Why Myanmar and Laos have been caught up in Trump's sweeping travel bans
US President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on June 4 banning citizens from 12 countries from entering the US. PHOTO: REUTERS
– The inclusion of Myanmar and Laos on a list of countries deemed by the Trump administration to pose terrorist and national security threats to the United States prompted immediate double takes from analysts in the Asean region.
US President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on June 4 banning citizens from 12 countries, mostly in the Middle East and Africa, from entering the US, reinstating and expanding on one of the most controversial measures from his first term in office. Partial restrictions apply to seven additional countries.
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
10 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Trump says Musk has ‘lost his mind' as feud fallout mounts
US President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaking to the press as they stand next to a Tesla vehicle at the White House on March 11, in Washington. PHOTO: AFP Trump says Musk has 'lost his mind' as feud fallout mounts WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said on June 6 that Mr Elon Musk had 'lost his mind' but insisted he wanted to move on from the fiery split with his billionaire former ally. The blistering public break-up between the world's richest person and the world's most powerful is fraught with political and economic risks all round. Mr Trump had scrapped the idea of a call with Mr Musk and was even thinking of ditching the red Tesla he bought at the height of their bromance, White House officials told AFP. But Mr Trump told US broadcasters that he now wanted to focus instead on passing his 'big, beautiful' mega-Bill – Mr Musk's harsh criticism of which had sparked their break-up. But the 78-year-old Republican could not stop himself from taking aim at his South African-born friend-turned-enemy. 'You mean the man who has lost his mind?' Mr Trump said in a call with ABC when asked about Mr Musk, adding that he was 'not particularly' interested in talking to the tycoon. Mr Trump later told Fox News that Mr Musk had 'lost it,' while CNN quoted the president as saying: 'I'm not even thinking about poor guy's got a problem.' Just a week ago Mr Trump gave Musk a glowing send-off as he left his cost-cutting role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) after four months working there. 'Very disappointed' But while there had been reports of tensions, the sheer speed at which their relationship imploded stunned Washington. After Mr Musk called Mr Trump's spending Bill an 'abomination' on June 3, Mr Trump hit back in an Oval Office diatribe on June 5 in which he said he was 'very disappointed' by the tycoon. Mr Trump's spending Bill faces a difficult path through Congress as it will raise the US deficit, while critics say it will cut health care for millions of the poorest Americans. The row then went nuclear, with Mr Musk slinging insults at Mr Trump and accusing him without evidence of being in government files on disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Social media posts by US President Donald Trump and Mr Elon Musk displayed side by side on June 5. PHOTO: AFP Mr Trump hit back with the power of the US government behind him, saying he could cancel the Space X boss's multi-billion-dollar rocket and satellite contracts. The right-wing tech baron apparently tried to deescalate. Mr Musk rowed back on a threat to scrap his company's Dragon spacecraft – vital for ferrying Nasa astronauts to and from the International Space Station. And on June 6 the usually garrulous poster kept a low social media profile on his X social network. But the White House denied reports that they would talk. 'The president does not intend to speak to Musk today,' a senior White House official told AFP. A second official said Musk had requested a call. Tesla giveaway? Tesla stocks tanked more than 14 per cent on June 5 amid the row, losing some US$100 billion (S$129 billion) of the company's market value, but recovering partly on June 6. Mr Trump is now considering either selling or giving away the cherry red Tesla S that he announced he had bought from Mr Musk's firm in March. The electric vehicle was still parked on the White House grounds on June 6. 'He's thinking about it, yes,' a senior White House official told AFP when asked if Mr Trump would sell or give it away. Mr Trump and Mr Musk had posed inside the car at a bizarre event in March, when the president turned the White House into a pop-up Tesla showroom after viral protests against Mr Musk's Doge role. But while Mr Trump appeared to have many of the cards in their row, Mr Musk also has some to play. His wealth allowed him to be Mr Trump's biggest donor to his 2024 campaign, to the tune of nearly US$300 million. Any further support for the 2026 midterms now appears in doubt – while Mr Musk could also use his money to undermine Mr Trump's support on the right. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
14 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Mistakenly deported man Abrego Garcia returns to US to face charges
FILE PHOTO: Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant who lived in the U.S. legally with a work permit and was erroneously deported to El Salvador, is seen wearing a Chicago Bulls hat, in this handout image obtained by Reuters on April 9, 2025. Abrego Garcia Family/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man mistakenly deported from Maryland to El Salvador by the Trump administration, has returned to the United States to face criminal charges, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Friday. Abrego Garcia was charged in an indictment filed in federal court in Tennessee with conspiring to transport illegal immigrants into the United States. The indictment was filed on May 21, more than two months after Abrego Garcia's March 15 deportation, court records showed. In a statement, Abrego Garcia's lawyer, Andrew Rossman, said it would now be up to the U.S. judicial system to ensure he received due process. 'Today's action proves what we've known all along — that the administration had the ability to bring him back and just refused to do so," said Rossman, a partner at law firm Quinn Emanuel. Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador, despite an immigration judge's 2019 order granting him protection from deportation to El Salvador after finding he was likely to be persecuted by gangs if returned there, court records show. Critics of President Donald Trump pointed to the erroneous deportation as an example of the excesses of the Republican president's aggressive approach to stepping up deportations. Officials countered by alleging that Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang. His lawyers have denied that Abrego Garcia was a member of the gang and said he had not been charged with or convicted of any crime. His case has also become a flash point for escalating tensions between the executive branch and the judiciary, which has ruled against a number of Trump's policies. The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return, with liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor saying the government had cited no basis for what she called his "warrantless arrest." U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis has since opened a probe into what, if anything, the Trump administration has done to secure his return, after his lawyers accused officials of stonewalling their requests for information. The indictment also charges Abrego Garcia and two unidentified co-conspirators with transporting firearms illegally purchased in Texas for resale in Maryland. Abrego Garcia also transported illegal narcotics purchased in Texas for resale in Maryland and was on some occasions accompanied on those trips by members and associates of MS-13, according to the indictment. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
29 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Mistakenly deported man Abrego Garcia indicted, on way back to US
FILE PHOTO: Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant who lived in the U.S. legally with a work permit and was erroneously deported to El Salvador, is seen wearing a Chicago Bulls hat, in this handout image obtained by Reuters on April 9, 2025. Abrego Garcia Family/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man mistakenly deported from Maryland to El Salvador by the Trump administration, has been indicted on criminal charges and is on his way back to the U.S. to face criminal charges, according to court records and a person familiar with the matter. Abrego Garcia was charged in an indictment filed in federal court in Tennessee with conspiring to transport illegal immigrants into the United States. The indictment was filed on May 21, more than two months after Abrego Garcia's March 15 deportation, court records showed. In a statement, Abrego Garcia's lawyer, Andrew Rossman, said it would now be up to the U.S. judicial system to ensure he received due process. 'Today's action proves what we've known all along — that the administration had the ability to bring him back and just refused to do so," said Rossman, a partner at law firm Quinn Emanuel. Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador, despite an immigration judge's 2019 order granting him protection from deportation to El Salvador after finding he was likely to be persecuted by gangs if returned there, court records show. Critics of President Donald Trump pointed to the erroneous deportation as an example of the excesses of the Republican president's aggressive approach to stepping up deportations. Officials countered by alleging that Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang. His lawyers have denied that Abrego Garcia was a member of the gang and said he had not been charged with or convicted of any crime. His case has also become a flash point for escalating tensions between the executive branch and the judiciary, which has ruled against a number of Trump's policies. The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return, with liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor saying the government had cited no basis for what she called his "warrantless arrest." U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis has since opened a probe into what, if anything, the Trump administration has done to secure his return, after his lawyers accused officials of stonewalling their requests for information. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
