President Donald Trump issued a fresh proclamation preventing nationals of 12 nations from entering the United States, citing national security concerns.
The whole travel restriction applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
The restriction will come into effect on June 9, 2025.
In addition to the outright bans, the decree places partial limitations on citizens of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
According to the BBC, some exemptions apply, including sportsmen travelling for important sporting events, some Afghan nationals, and dual nationals with citizenship in unaffected nations.
Trump noted that the policy is meant to prevent persons regarded as potential security concerns from entering the United States.
“We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen,” he said in a video message posted on X on Wednesday.
According to the White House, the nations subject to the most stringent limitations have a “large-scale presence of terrorists”, weak cooperation on visa-related security measures, and insufficient mechanisms for confirming travellers’ identities.
The government also cited inadequate criminal record-keeping and high visa overstay rates as significant concerns.
The latest directive expands on Trump’s broader immigration crackdown, which began at the start of his second term.
On January 20, the president issued an executive order requiring stronger security checks for foreign nationals and directing federal agencies to assess which nations could face entrance restrictions owing to insufficient vetting procedures.
This decision is akin to Trump’s contentious travel ban during his first term, which first targeted seven primarily Muslim nations and was upheld by the US Supreme Court in 2018.
Former US President Joe Biden overturned the prohibition in 2021, calling it “a stain on our national conscience”.
