A new U.S. travel ban issued by President Donald Trump will bar citizens from 12 countries from entering the United States, many of them in Africa, while imposing strict limitations on travelers from seven others.
Among the nations whose citizens will now be prohibited from entry are several African countries: Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia, and Sudan. These countries join Afghanistan, Myanmar, Haiti, Iran, and Yemen on Trump’s newly issued blacklist.
Additional restrictions have been placed on visitors from other African countries, including Burundi, Sierra Leone, and Togo, as well as from Cuba, Laos, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
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The ban, which takes effect Monday at 12:01 a.m., marks a dramatic expansion of one of Trump’s most controversial policies from his first term. This time, however, the rollout includes a short grace period designed to avoid the chaotic airport scenes that followed the 2017 “Muslim ban.”
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In a video posted to social media, Trump tied the announcement to a terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, committed by an Egyptian national who overstayed a visa, a country notably not included in the new ban. He claimed the incident highlighted the ongoing threat posed by overstayers.
“I must act to protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people,” Trump wrote in the official proclamation.
The administration cited various reasons for the ban, including poor cooperation on identity verification and high rates of visa overstays. Trump’s decision leans heavily on a Department of Homeland Security report that tracks the number of travelers who fail to leave when their visas expire.
Trump’s order argued that Afghanistan lacks reliable governance and fails to vet its travelers. It includes exceptions for Afghans with Special Immigrant Visas, typically those who worked closely with U.S. forces. Still, the move has angered advocates and veterans.
“To include Afghanistan — a nation whose people stood alongside American service members for 20 years — is a moral disgrace. It spits in the face of our allies, our veterans, and every value we claim to uphold,” said Shawn VanDiver, president and board chairman of #AfghanEvac.
On Haiti, Trump cited the government’s inability to share reliable law enforcement data and claimed that lax oversight could threaten U.S. security.
“Haiti lacks a central authority with sufficient availability and dissemination of law enforcement information necessary to ensure its nationals do not undermine the national security of the United States,” the order stated.
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The announcement arrives as tens of thousands of refugees from banned countries, particularly the Republic of Congo and Afghanistan have already begun the resettlement process. Many are now stranded mid-process, having sold belongings or secured tickets to the U.S.
In the 12-month period ending September 2024, nearly 20,000 refugees from Congo arrived in the U.S., followed closely by around 14,000 Afghans.
The directive stems from a January 20 executive order, signed upon Trump’s return to office, mandating a review of nations deemed to have “hostile attitudes” toward the U.S. and lax entry vetting.
Trump’s first travel ban, issued in 2017, targeted seven majority-Muslim countries and drew global backlash. That order, eventually upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018, underwent several revisions amid a flurry of legal challenges.
Critics widely referred to it as a “Muslim ban,” referencing Trump’s campaign promise to halt Muslim immigration. However, he has consistently defended the bans as national security measures, not acts of religious or racial discrimination.
The new ban similarly invokes broad presidential powers to restrict entry of foreign nationals deemed “detrimental” to U.S. interests. It also opens the door for case-by-case exceptions for individuals whose entry would serve the “national interest.”
For now, foreign nationals from the targeted countries are bracing for an indefinite halt. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, per the order, will evaluate whether visas for current Harvard students and others from these countries should be revoked.
The travel restrictions are set to last six months, after which the administration will decide whether to extend or revise them, according to an AP report.
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