Trump travel ban - full list of all 12 countries barred from entering the US

Daily Mirror

2 days ago

Donald Trump has confirmed a new travel ban will take effect from Monday. He tied the new ban to Sunday's terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, claiming it showed the dangers posed by visitors who overstay visas
Donald Trump has imposed a controversial ban on citizens from 12 countries entering the US - and seven others are facing restrictions. The US president confirmed the new ban will take effect from Monday at 12.01am. In a video released on social media, Trump tied the latest ban to Sunday's terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, saying it showed the dangers posed by some visitors who overstay visas.
However, the suspect in the attack is from Egypt; a country that is not on Trump's restricted list. The Department of Homeland Security claims he overstayed a tourist visa. Trump said some countries had 'deficient' screening and vetting or have historically refused to take back their own citizens.
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The president's findings rely 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.
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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 US 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.
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Haiti, which avoided the travel ban during Trump's first term, was also included for high overstay rates and large numbers who entered the US illegally. Haitians continue to flee poverty, hunger and political instability deepens while police and a UN-backed mission fight a surge in gang violence, with armed men controlling at least 85% of its capital, Port-au-Prince.
'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 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.
The full list of banned countries
Afghanistan
Myanmar
Chad
The Republic of Congo
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Haiti
Iran
Libya
Somalia
Sudan
Yemen
Countries with 'restrictions'
Burundi
Cuba
Laos
Sierra Leone
Togo
Turkmenistan
Venezuela