Travel ban: Why is Trump stopping travel from these 12 nations?

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Travel ban: Why is Trump stopping travel from these 12 nations?
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President Trump bans travel from several countries around the world
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation that bans travel from 12 countries and restricts seven others.
President Donald Trump issued a travel ban that will bar or partially restrict foreign nationals from nearly 20 countries from entering the United States, citing national security concerns.
In videotaped remarks from the Oval Office released Wednesday, June 4, Trump pointed to last weekend's attack on a group of demonstrators supporting Israeli hostages in Boulder, Colorado. The FBI has said it is investigating the attack as a "targeted act of terrorism," with the suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, a native of Egypt whose 2022 tourist visa is expired.
The countries are primarily in Africa and the Middle East, with a full ban on foreign nationals from 12 nations. They are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
The president's proclamation also includes a partial travel ban of people from seven other countries − Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. The restrictions are to go into effect on Monday, June 9.
Here is a closer look at why the administration says it is instituting full bans on the 12 nations.
Why is Haiti on the travel ban list?
Like nearly all of the countries on the full ban, Trump points to visa overstay rates as a key component in his reasoning.
The proclamation released Wednesday also says Haitian immigrants pose a security risk, echoing Trump's years-long claims linking immigrants with crime and criminal activity, despite consistent independent research that debunks the rhetoric. Research suggests immigrants actually commit fewer crimes than people born in the U.S.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced last month that the U.S was ending temporary protected status (TPS) for an estimated 520,000 Haitians. The program gives temporary legal status and work authorization to people from countries experiencing conflict, natural disasters and other extraordinary conditions.
Trump during his 2024 presidential campaign baselessly claimed that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating pets and promised mass deportations over complaints that their presence was hurting communities. President Barack Obama's administration first granted TPS status to Haitians in 2010 after a devastating earthquake killed as many as 300,000 people and decimated much of the nation's infrastructure. The country has remained unstable, including a 2021 presidential assassination that led to massive government instability, and a surge in gang violence over the past few years.
Why is Iran on the travel ban list?
Trump says in his ban that Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism, and that the nation "regularly fails to cooperate with the United States Government in identifying security risks," and has "historically failed to accept back its removable nationals." The country has been designated as a state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. government since 1984, which involves limits on U.S. foreign assistance, a ban on certain exports and various financial restrictions.
The U.S. and Iran recently restarted talks in an attempt to reach a nuclear deal. Since Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 deal that curbed Iran's uranium enrichment activity, deeming the accord deeply flawed, Tehran has accumulated a stockpile of uranium refined to levels close to what would be suitable for nuclear bomb fuel, Reuters reports.
Why is Afghanistan on the travel ban list?
The ban points to Afghanistan's ruling government and visa overstays as the reason behind its inclusion on the list.
Because the Taliban, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group according to the U.S., runs the country, the administration says it does not have "appropriate screening and vetting measures" and "lacks a competent or cooperative central authority" to issue passports and other identity documents.
As with other countries on Trump's list, the proclamation also cites Afghan nationals overstaying their visas as another reason for their ban.
The U.S. is ending the temporary protected status program for Afghanistan along with Haiti. Homeland Security Sec. Noem said in a May statement that safety and economic conditions had improved in the country enough to warrant the program termination, which could lead to the deportation of thousands of Afghans residing in the U.S. upon its July 14 end date.
Why is Myanmar on the travel ban list?
The Trump administration says Myanmar, referred to as Burma by the U.S. government, has "historically not cooperated with the United States to accept back their removable nationals," and pointed to visa overstays in its proclamation.
Why is Sudan on the travel ban list?
The administration points to what it says is the country's lack of a competent or cooperative central government, similar to the language used regarding Afghanistan, as the reason for its inclusion, claiming it results in a questionable ability to issue passports and civil documents.
Sudan is further accused of having relatively high visa overstay rates, according to Department of Homeland Security data cited in the ban.
Why are Equatorial Guinea, Republic of the Congo and Chad on the travel ban list?
These three African countries are on the ban due to the administration's argument that they have high visa overstay rates.
The ban says Chad's visa overstay rate, which is listed at over 55% and 37% among business and tourist visa holders in 2022 and 2023, "indicates a blatant disregard for United States immigration laws."
Why are Eritrea, Libya and Somalia on the travel ban list?
The administration points to visa overstay rates and lack of trust in each nation's government in its ban, and that Eritreafails to make the criminal records of its citizens available to the U.S.
Trump also explicitly singles out Somalia and Libya for the presence of terrorist groups and operations within its territories.
"The historical terrorist presence within Libya's territory amplifies the risks posed by the entry into the United States of its nationals," the proclamation says, also calling Somalia a "terrorist safe haven."
Why is Yemen on the travel ban list?
As with several other African and Middle Eastern nations listed, the administration accuses Yemen of not having sufficient measures in place for issuing passports and other travel documents. Trump's ban says the nation lacks control over its own land and has been the site of site of active U.S. military operations since January. The U.S. is involved in combating the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, who have been engaged in a civil war for a decade.
At least 4.5 million people in Yemen have been displaced by the conflict since 2014, the United Nations estimates, with tens of thousands are living in famine-like conditions and 5 million living on the brink of famine.
Contributing: Trevor Hughes, Joey Garrison and Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY; Reuters.
Kathryn Palmer is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at [e-mail] and on X @KathrynPlmr.