Trump Signs Sweeping Travel Ban Targeting 19 Countries
In a move that is likely to spark widespread controversy, Donald Trump has signed a presidential proclamation imposing a sweeping travel ban on nationals from 19 countries, reviving and expanding a similar ban from his first term in office. The ban, which was announced on June 4, 2025, will see the nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen face a full restriction on entering the United States.
According to the proclamation, which was reported on by The Guardian, the entry of nationals from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela will be partially restricted. The ban is based on a range of justifications cited by Trump, including national security concerns and the issue of visitors overstaying their visas.
The new travel ban is a significant escalation of Trump’s hardline immigration policies, which have been a hallmark of his presidency. As The Guardian reported, Trump had been signalling his intention to revive the travel ban for some time, tweeting that he would act to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted.
In a video message released on social media, Trump said that the recent attack at a Boulder, Colorado, event, which was carried out by an Egyptian national, "underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas." He added that the list of countries subject to the ban was "subject to revisions based on whether material improvements are made" and that "likewise, new countries could be added as threats emerge around the world".
The travel ban has been widely criticised by advocates and experts, who argue that it discriminates against groups of people based on ethnicity alone. As Democratic representative Pramila Jayapal said, "This discriminatory policy, which limits legal immigration, not only flies in the face of what our country is supposed to stand for, it will be harmful to our economy and communities that rely on the contributions of people who come to America from this wide range of countries."
The ban is likely to have a significant impact on US communities with large immigrant populations from countries such as Haiti, Cuba, and Venezuela. According to The Guardian, the ban on travel from these countries could lead to the separation of families.
This latest move is part of a broader effort by Trump to restrict immigration to the United States. As The Guardian reported, Trump has also signed a proclamation to restrict foreign student visas at Harvard University and ordered US consulates to conduct social media screening of every visa applicant seeking to travel to the university.
The travel ban is the latest iteration of a policy that Trump first introduced in 2017, which was blocked by federal courts on civil liberties grounds but ultimately allowed to stand by the US supreme court. The court ruled that Trump’s ban did not target Muslims, despite the fact that it originally targeted travellers from Muslim-majority countries.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) was critical of the original ban, saying that it was an expression of animosity towards Muslims. In 2020, shortly before the Covid pandemic reduced world travel, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Myanmar, Tanzania, and Sudan were added to the ban. The ban was later rescinded by President Joe Biden in 2021.
As The Guardian noted, Trump had trailed his plans for a new ban during his election campaign against Kamala Harris last year, saying that he would "ban refugee resettlement from terror-infested areas like the Gaza Strip, and we will seal our border and bring back the travel ban". The new travel ban is likely to spark a similar outcry from civil rights groups and advocates.
