Poli Alert Politics & Civics
Related Articles
President Donald Trump on Wednesday reinstated and significantly expanded one of his most controversial policies from his first term, announcing a sweeping new travel ban that will bar entry to citizens of 12 countries and impose restrictions on visitors from seven more.
Set to take effect Monday at 12:01 a.m., the ban avoids the chaotic rollout that accompanied Trump’s first travel ban in 2017. This time, the administration provided a buffer to prevent airport disruptions and appears to be on firmer legal ground following the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling upholding a previous version of the ban.
The 12 countries facing outright bans are: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
In addition, visitors from seven other nations — Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela — will face heightened restrictions, though not a complete ban.
“I must act to protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people,” Trump said in a statement accompanying the executive proclamation.
Trump linked the renewed ban to a recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, carried out by an Egyptian national who overstayed a tourist visa. Although Egypt is not included in the new list, Trump used the incident to highlight what he called a pattern of “deficient screening and vetting” from certain countries and high visa overstay rates.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the new list is based on an annual report that tracks visa overstaysand the unwillingness of some countries to repatriate their citizens who are ordered to leave the U.S.
“These countries either refuse to cooperate with U.S. repatriation efforts or fail to share critical security data. That’s a national risk,” said a senior DHS official familiar with the report.
Haiti’s inclusion on the ban list has drawn particular attention, as it was previously spared during Trump’s first term. The White House cited the country’s lack of centralized law enforcement, ongoing political instability, and widespread gang violence as reasons for its addition.
“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,” Trump wrote.
The updated travel restrictions result from a January 20 executive order that directed federal agencies to assess whether travelers from certain nations posed “hostile attitudes” toward the U.S. and represented security threats.
Trump’s initial travel ban in 2017 — often labeled the “Muslim ban” — included seven predominantly Muslim countries and sparked nationwide protests and legal challenges. That order was restructured multiple times before the Supreme Court upheld a narrower version in 2018.
Although Trump has long defended the travel bans as national security measures, critics and civil rights organizations continue to condemn them as discriminatory and xenophobic.
Advocacy groups and immigration attorneys say they are preparing for an influx of calls from affected families and travelers over the coming days.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) issued a statement calling the new ban “a dangerous expansion of a failed policy that targets marginalized populations under the guise of security.”
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign has used the announcement to rally support from his political base, touting the policy as evidence of his tough-on-immigration stance and ability to “put America first.”
The Department of Homeland Security and State Department are expected to provide additional details this week on how the restrictions will be enforced and what exemptions, if any, may apply.
