Trump announces travel ban and restrictions on 19 countries set to go
into effect Monday
[June 05, 2025]
By CHRIS MEGERIAN and FARNOUSH AMIRI
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday resurrected a
hallmark policy of his first term, announcing that citizens of 12
countries would be banned from visiting the United States and those from
seven others would face restrictions.
The ban takes effect Monday at 12:01 a.m., a cushion that may avoid the
chaos that unfolded at airports nationwide when a similar measure took
effect with virtually no notice in 2017. Trump, who signaled plans for a
new ban upon taking office in January, appears to be on firmer ground
this time after the Supreme Court sided with him.
Some, but not all, 12 countries also appeared on the list of banned
countries in Trump's first term. The new ban includes Afghanistan,
Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti,
Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
There will be heightened restrictions on visitors from Burundi, Cuba,
Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
In a video released on social media, Trump tied the new ban to Sunday's
terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, saying it underscored the dangers
posed by some visitors who overstay visas. The suspect in the attack is
from Egypt, a country that is not on Trump’s restricted list. The
Department of Homeland Security says he overstayed a tourist visa.
Trump said some countries had “deficient” screening and vetting or have
historically refused to take back their own citizens. His findings rely
extensively on an annual Homeland Security report of visa overstays of
tourists, business visitors and students who arrive by air and sea,
singling out countries with high percentages of remaining after their
visas expired.
“We don't want them,” Trump said.
The inclusion of Afghanistan angered some supporters who have worked to
resettle its people. The ban makes exceptions for Afghans on Special
Immigrant Visas, generally people who worked most closely with the U.S.
government during the two-decade-long war there.
Afghanistan was also one of the largest sources of resettled refugees,
with about 14,000 arrivals in a 12-month period through September 2024.
Trump suspended refugee resettlement his first day in office.
“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.
Trump wrote that Afghanistan “lacks a competent or cooperative central
authority for issuing passports or civil documents and it does not have
appropriate screening and vetting measures.” He also cited its visa
overstay rates.
Haiti, which avoided the travel ban during Trump’s first term, was also
included for high overstay rates and large numbers who came to the U.S.
illegally. Haitians continue to flee poverty, hunger and political
instability deepens while police and a U.N.-backed mission fight a surge
in gang violence, with armed men controlling at least 85% of its
capital, Port-au-Prince.
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President Donald Trump speaks during a summer soiree on the South
Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP
Photo/Alex Brandon)
“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 Iranian government government offered no immediate reaction to
being included. The Trump administration called it a “state sponsor
of terrorism,” barring visitors except for those already holding
visas or coming into the U.S. on special visas America issues for
minorities facing persecution.
Other Mideast nations on the list — Libya, Sudan and Yemen — all
face ongoing civil strife and territory overseen by opposing
factions. Sudan has an active war, while Yemen’s war is largely
stalemated and Libyan forces remain armed.
International aid groups and refugee resettlement organizations
roundly condemned the new ban. "This policy is not about national
security — it is about sowing division and vilifying communities
that are seeking safety and opportunity in the United States," said
Abby Maxman, president of Oxfam America.
The travel ban results from a Jan. 20 executive order Trump issued
requiring the departments of State and Homeland Security and the
Director of National Intelligence to compile a report on “hostile
attitudes” toward the U.S. and whether entry from certain countries
represented a national security risk.
During his first term, Trump issued an executive order in January
2017 banning travel to the U.S. by citizens of seven predominantly
Muslim countries — Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and
Yemen.
It was one of the most chaotic and confusing moments of his young
presidency. Travelers from those nations were either barred from
getting on their flights to the U.S. or detained at U.S. airports
after they landed. They included students and faculty as well as
businesspeople, tourists and people visiting friends and family.
The order, often referred to as the “Muslim ban” or the “travel
ban,” was retooled amid legal challenges, until a version was upheld
by the Supreme Court in 2018.
The ban affected various categories of travelers and immigrants from
Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Syria and Libya, plus North Koreans and some
Venezuelan government officials and their families.
Trump and others have defended the initial ban on national security
grounds, arguing it was aimed at protecting the country and not
founded on anti-Muslim bias. However, the president had called for
an explicit ban on Muslims during his first campaign for the White
House.
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