Trump Signs New Travel Ban Affecting Citizens from 12 Countries, Cites National Security Concerns
Share with friends:
President Donald Trump has signed a new presidential proclamation restricting entry into the United States for citizens from 12 countries, citing national security risks. The measure, announced Wednesday, will take effect on June 9, 2025.
The countries facing full travel bans include Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. In addition, partial restrictions will be imposed on nationals from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
According to the White House, the countries under full restriction were identified as having a “large-scale presence of terrorists,” inadequate identity verification systems, poor cooperation on security protocols, and weak tracking of criminal histories. High visa overstay rates were also cited as contributing factors.
“We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen,” Trump said in a video message posted on X (formerly Twitter). The directive, he added, aims to prevent potential security threats from entering the U.S.
There are limited exemptions under the new order, including for athletes attending major international competitions, certain Afghan nationals, and dual citizens who also hold passports from unaffected countries.
The proclamation builds on Trump’s ongoing immigration crackdown since the beginning of his second term. On January 20, he signed an executive order mandating stricter vetting procedures for foreign nationals and requiring federal agencies to review which countries should be subject to entry suspensions.
The latest directive has drawn comparisons to Trump’s first-term travel ban, which targeted several Muslim-majority nations and was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 before being repealed by President Joe Biden in 2021. At the time, Biden condemned the earlier policy as “a stain on our national conscience.”
With this new order, Trump’s administration signals a return to aggressive immigration policies that have long been a cornerstone of his political platform.
