Trump travel ban in effect, citizens from 12 nations barred from US
US President Donald Trump's sweeping new travel ban came into effect immediately after midnight, barring citizens from a dozen nations from entering the United States and reviving a divisive measure from his first term.
The move is expected to disrupt refugee pathways and further restrict immigration as the Trump administration expands its crackdown on illegal entries.
Many of the nations covered by the restrictions have adversarial relations with the United States, such as Iran and Afghanistan, while others face severe crises, like Haiti and Libya.
In announcing his restrictions last week, Mr Trump said the new measure was spurred by a recent "terrorist attack" on Jews in Colorado.
The group had been protesting in solidarity with hostages held in Gaza when they were assaulted by a man the White House said had overstayed his visa.
That attack, Mr Trump said, "underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted" or who overstay their visas.
The move bans all travel to the United States by nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, according to the White House.
Mr Trump also imposed a partial ban on travelers from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Some temporary work visas from those countries will be allowed.
New countries could be added, Mr Trump warned, "as threats emerge around the world."
Mehria, a 23-year-old woman from Afghanistan who applied for refugee status, said the new rules have trapped her and many other Afghans in uncertainty.
"We gave up thousands of hopes and our entire lives... on a promise from America, but today we are suffering one hell after another," she told said.
World Cup, Olympics, diplomats excluded
The ban will not apply to athletes competing in the 2026 World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, or in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Mr Trump's order said.
Nor will it apply to diplomats from the targeted countries.
United Nations rights chief Volker Turk warned that "the broad and sweeping nature of the new travel ban raises concerns from the perspective of international law."
Democrats blasted the ban as draconian and unconstitutional.
"I know the pain that Trump's cruel and xenophobic travel bans inflict because my family has felt it firsthand," congresswoman Yassamin Ansari, who is Iranian-American, posted on X.
"We will fight this ban with everything we have."
Rumours of a new travel ban had circulated following the Colorado attack, with Mr Trump's administration vowing to pursue "terrorists" living in the United States on visas.
US officials said suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national according to court documents, was in the country illegally having overstayed a tourist visa, but that he had applied for asylum in September 2022.
Mr Trump's new travel ban notably does not include Egypt.
His proclamation said Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and war-torn Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen lacked "competent" central authorities for processing passports and vetting.
Iran was included because it is a "state sponsor of terrorism," the order said.
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RTÉ News
25 minutes ago
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The Irish Sun
28 minutes ago
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Irish Times
34 minutes ago
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Crimea was once a crossroads of civilisations, now it's stuck in a wartime cul-de-sac
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War fatalities among soldiers include more than 1,200 men either from the peninsula or stationed there, according to a tally maintained by Mediazona and the BBC Russian language service. Civilian deaths have been relatively rare. The hotel owner, who sings in a small jazz ensemble, said the group avoided outdoor concerts but had recently performed in a military hospital. 'It was such a strange feeling – some people were severely injured, with limb amputations, but they were in the hall listening to us,' she said. 'You know it's like life and death walking hand-in-hand.' Russia's most significant territorial gain in the war was the land along Ukraine's southern coast linking Crimea to mainland Russia, about 500km east. A new road provides an alternative route when the bridge comes under attack, but some dislike its repeated military checkpoints. Several hundred people have been criminally prosecuted for political reasons since Russia took Crimea, according to OVD-Info, an independent organisation that tracks open court data. It also found 1,275 administrative cases filed against Crimeans accused of discrediting the armed forces, among the highest number of any Russian region. Defence lawyers for pro-Ukrainian activists can find themselves disbarred. Despite improved living standards, Crimeans rank below the Russian national average in income, especially as the war has pushed up prices, although some benefit. Crimean wines gained a new cachet after the European Union banned most wine sales to Russia, so the cost of vineyard land more than quintupled in four years, one vintner said. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians have left the peninsula, while a wave of Russians have emigrated from the mainland, although concrete numbers are elusive. Ukraine says acknowledging Russian sovereignty would reward aggression. Crimeans often react to the idea that a war settlement might include recognition of the peninsula as Russian with a shrug, although they would welcome the end of sanctions that restrict travel and deter outside investment. 'Honestly speaking, the majority of Crimean people don't think about recognition, because they consider Crimea a part of Russia,' said Lubov V Gribkova, a foreign relations adviser to the mayor of Yalta. This article originally appeared in The New York Times .
