Trump's new travel ban: Which countries are on the list? Who's exempt? How are people reacting?

Yahoo

4 hours ago

President Trump's sweeping new travel ban went into effect on Monday, barring citizens of 12 countries from visiting the United States and imposing restrictions on those from seven others.
In a video message last week announcing the ban, Trump cited national security concerns, claiming that foreigners who were not properly vetted posed a terror risk.
"We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen those who seek to enter the United States,' Trump said.
The president also cited the recent attack in Boulder, Colo., by a man who allegedly shouted 'Free Palestine' and threw Molotov cocktails into a crowd of people calling for the release of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas.
'The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colo., has 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,' Trump said. 'We don't want them.'
The suspect, identified as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, was arrested and charged with a hate crime. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Soliman is from Egypt and had overstayed a tourist visa.
Egypt is not among the countries included in Trump's new travel ban.
The ban, which went into effect Monday at 12:01 a.m. ET, prohibits foreign nationals from the following countries from entering the U.S.:
Afghanistan
Chad
Republic of Congo
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Haiti
Iran
Libya
Myanmar (Burma)
Somalia
Sudan
Yemen
It imposes partial restrictions on foreign nationals from the following countries:
Burundi
Cuba
Laos
Sierra Leone
Togo
Turkmenistan
Venezuela
There are numerous groups of people who are exempt from Trump's new travel ban. They include:
Any lawful permanent resident of the United States.
Dual citizens, or U.S. citizens who also have citizenship of one of the banned countries.
Athletes and their coaches traveling to the U.S. for the World Cup, Olympics or other major sporting events determined by the U.S. secretary of state.
Afghan Special Immigrant Visa holders who worked for the U.S. government or its allies during the war in Afghanistan.
Children adopted by U.S. citizens.
Diplomats and foreign government officials or representatives of international organizations and NATO on official visits.
Foreign national employees of the U.S. government who have served abroad for at least 15 years, their spouses and children.
Individuals with U.S. family members who apply for visas in connection to their spouses, children or parents.
Iranians belonging to an ethnic or religious minority who are fleeing prosecution.
Refugees who were granted asylum or admitted to the U.S. before the ban.
Those traveling to the United Nations headquarters in New York solely on official business.
The announcement angered humanitarian groups working to resettle refugees.
'President Trump's new travel ban is discriminatory, racist, and downright cruel,' Amnesty International USA said in a statement posted to X. 'By targeting people based on their nationality, this ban only spreads disinformation and hate.'
"This policy is not about national security,' Abby Maxman, president of Oxfam America, said in a statement. 'It is about sowing division and vilifying communities that are seeking safety and opportunity in the United States."
'To include Afghanistan — a nation whose people stood alongside American service members for 20 years — is a moral disgrace,' Shawn VanDiver, president and board chairman of #AfghanEvac, said in a statement. 'It spits in the face of our allies, our veterans, and every value we claim to uphold.'
The African Union Commission released a statement expressing concern about 'the potential negative impact' of the ban on educational exchange, commerce and engagement and the 'broader diplomatic relations that have been carefully nurtured over decades.'
The commission said it 'respectfully calls upon the U.S. Administration to consider adopting a more consultative approach and to engage in constructive dialogue with the countries concerned.'
The new travel ban is similar to the one Trump imposed in January 2017, his first month in office.
That ban restricted travel to the U.S. by citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries — Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. (Syria and Iraq are not included on the new list.)
It went into effect via an executive order with virtually no notice, causing chaos at airports nationwide and prompting numerous legal challenges. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a version of it in 2018.
Stephen Vladeck, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, told the New York Times that the new ban is more likely to withstand legal scrutiny.
'They seem to have learned some lessons from the three different rounds of litigation we went through during the first Trump administration,' Vladeck said. 'But a lot will depend upon how it's actually enforced.'