U.S. travel restrictions officially in effect for 19 countries
Social Sharing
President Donald Trump's new ban on travel to the U.S. by citizens from 12 mainly African and Middle Eastern countries took effect Monday amid rising tension over the president's escalating campaign of immigration enforcement.
The new proclamation, which Trump signed last week, applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It also imposes heightened restrictions on people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela who are outside the U.S. and don't hold a valid visa.
In total, just under 162,000 immigrant visas and temporary work, study, and travel visas were issued in fiscal year 2023 to nationals of the affected countries in the now banned visa categories, according to the Migration Policy Institute. The ban includes exemptions, such as for dual nationals, permanent residents, immigrant visas for immediate family members of citizens and athletes traveling for major sporting events like next year's World Cup, when the U.S. hosts about 75 per cent of tournament games.
The new ban does not revoke visas previously issued to people from countries on the list, according to guidance issued Friday to all U.S. diplomatic missions. However, unless an applicant meets narrow criteria for an exemption to the ban, his or her application will be rejected starting Monday.
During Trump's first term, a hastily written executive order ordering the denial of entry to citizens of mainly Muslim countries created chaos at numerous airports and other ports of entry, prompting successful legal challenges and major revisions to the policy.
No such disruption was immediately discernible at Los Angeles International Airport in the hours after the new ban took effect.
Ban criticized by migrant advocates
While the U.S. does have a significant issue with unauthorized persons within its borders, estimated at between 11 million and 12 million people by various immigration think-tanks, the ban was quickly denounced by groups that provide aid and resettlement help to refugees.
"This policy is not about national security — it is about sowing division and vilifying communities that are seeking safety and opportunity in the United States," said Abby Maxman, president of Oxfam America, a nonprofit international relief organization.
The inclusion of Afghanistan angered some supporters who have worked to resettle its people. The ban does make exceptions for Afghans on Special Immigrant Visas, generally people who worked most closely with the U.S. government during the two-decade-long war there.
WATCH l Trump reprises travel bans:
Trump defends travel ban on 12 countries: 'We don't want them'
3 days ago
Duration 2:02
Afghanistan had been 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 from the country on his first day in office.
While most of the countries on the list are on the other side of the world, the Caribbean nation of Haiti is an exception. The country is currently wracked by some of its most significant gang violence ever, with UN officials saying last week a food crisis exists for many of the island's inhabitants.
Haitian-American Elvanise Louis-Juste, who was at the airport earlier Sunday in Newark, N.J., awaiting a flight to her home state of Florida, said many Haitians wanting to come to the U.S. are simply seeking to escape violence and unrest.
"I have family in Haiti, so it's pretty upsetting to see and hear," Louis-Juste, 23, said of the travel ban. "I don't think it's a good thing. I think it's very upsetting."
Many immigration experts say the new ban is more carefully crafted and appears designed to beat court challenges that hampered the first by focusing on the visa application process.
Trump said this time that some countries had "deficient" screening for passports and other public documents or have historically refused to take back their own citizens. He relied extensively on an annual Homeland Security report of people who remain in the U.S. after their visas expired.
Measuring overstay rates has challenged experts for decades, but the government has made a limited attempt annually since 2016. Trump's proclamation cites overstay rates for eight of the 12 banned countries.
Trump also tied the new ban to an attack in Boulder, Colo., saying it underscored the dangers posed by some visitors who overstay visas. U.S. officials say the man charged in the attack overstayed a tourist visa. He is from Egypt, a country that is not on Trump's restricted list.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Good night — and good luck
Opinion First, a disclaimer: the following remarks do not apply to MSNBC TV journalists Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell, or to contemporary independent commentators Heather Cox Richardson or Robert Reich, or to the online political guerrilla site Fear and Loathing: Closer to the Edge. They are all yelling as loudly as they possibly can. Everyone else in the American media? It's well past time for you to slap yourselves upside the head and try to remember one essential aspect of competent journalism: context is everything. An average Grade 2 student could accurately connect the dots on the map that is U.S. President Donald Trump's now-detailed sketch of the American police state that is no longer just on the horizon. It's here. It marched into Los Angeles, garbed in military camouflage costumes, on a restive weekend filled with protests over ICE gestapo raiding, of all places, a Home Depot, looking for people with the wrong skin colour (if they're brown, they must be illegals). What to make of Trump's magnificent June 14 military parade, the one purportedly celebrating the American military's 250th anniversary, but which we all know is his big, beautiful birthday gift to himself? The one he so obviously modelled after all those tawdry spectacles in countries led by dictators he has so publicly admired— both the dictators and their pretty masses of toy soldiers and tanks? Icing on the cake he's already baked. On a weary Monday morning, one CNN anchor raised, during her interview with Los Angeles's mayor, the latest poll showing 54 per cent of Americans approve of Trump's immigration policy. The mayor pushed back, suggesting the anchor might look more deeply into that poll. The anchor clumsily conceded that more Americans are uncomfortable with the details of how that policy is being carried out — and hastily concluded the interview. She did not cut to a commercial break; she just didn't want to go there any further with the mayor. Less than an hour later, another CNN anchor gushed about the network's Saturday night simulcast of the Broadway play Good Night and Good Luck, cooing about how Edward R. Murrow's journalistically, stubbornly ethical stand (the play is about the infamous McCarthy era in the U.S., for those too young to remember), and remarking 'that is something we journalists all aspire to.' Is it? Is it really? Fascinating that the simulcast effectively displaced any live breaking news coverage of the Saturday night protests in Los Angeles. Let's examine all the dots to see the picture they create. Commentator Robert Reich recently noted the defining characteristics of a police state: • Declaring an emergency, citing rebellion, insurrection, or invasion as the cause. Done; • Using that to justify the use of force by federal agents (ICE, the FBI, DEA, and national guard… and the Marines and American military are positioned to join the fray at some point). Done; • Ordering those agents to make 'dragnet' arrests and abductions with no due process. Done; and • Building more prison space and detention camps for the prisoners rounded up. That's happening now. He listed one more point — the next one. The shoe that's about to drop: using the inevitable escalation of public pushback, driven by fury over the enactment of the first four, as the excuse to declare martial law. With the notable exception of that small group I cited at the beginning of this piece, the American media (and the vast bulk of the Canadian media, too — don't think for a minute you folks are handling this mess any better) has completely failed to connect the dots. They're too busy examining each individual dot, turning each one over and over, to step back and look at the context. It is worth noting that, fixated on each little dot, they failed to examine the comment Trump threw out in an off-the-cuff newser over that tipping point of a weekend for American democracy. Having said he would order in the Marines if the protests went over the line, he was asked by an unusually perceptive reporter where that line is. Weekday Evenings Today's must-read stories and a roundup of the day's headlines, delivered every evening. His reply: 'It is where I say it is.' Pair that with his remark to a rally of ultra-right white Christians during the election campaign: 'Vote for me, and you'll never have to vote again.' How much more obvious does this have to get before the media starts to perform the role for which it is intended in a democracy? America, your police state has arrived. Just remember: once they have come for everyone else, they will be coming for you. MAGA hat or not. Judy Waytiuk is a grey-haired, wrinkled old Winnipeg journalist who remembers when she was proud her profession ranked among the most trusted by the public. These days, she's ashamed to admit she was one.
Globe and Mail
2 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
What we know so far about Israel's attack on Iran
Israel launched a major attack on Iran, drawing their long-running shadow war into the open conflict in a way that could spiral into a wider, more dangerous regional war. The strikes early Friday set off explosions in the capital of Tehran as Israel said it was targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities. Iranian state media reported that the leader of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and two top nuclear scientists had been killed. Israel's attack comes as tensions have escalated over Iran's rapidly advancing nuclear program, which Israel sees as a threat to its existence. Who is Hossein Salami, Iran's Revolutionary Guard leader killed in Israeli strikes? The Trump administration revived efforts to negotiate limits on Iran's uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. But the indirect talks between American and Iranian diplomats have hit a stalemate. The attack pushed the region into a new and uncertain phase. Here's what to know about the strikes: Israel hit nuclear sites, killed Revolutionary Guard chief Israeli leaders said the attack was aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear bomb as the country enriches uranium a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels. Iran long has said its program is peaceful and U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed Iran was not actively building a weapon. In a video announcing the military operation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes hit Iran's main enrichment site, the Natanz atomic facility, and targeted Iran's leading nuclear scientists. He said that Israel had also targeted Iran's ballistic missile arsenal. Iranian state TV reported that the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard and one of Iran's most important commanders, Gen. Hossein Salami, had been killed. Residents of Tehran reported hearing huge explosions. Iranian state TV broadcast footage of blown-out walls, burning roofs and shattered windows in residential buildings across the capital. It reported that blasts had set the Revolutionary Guard's headquarters ablaze. Bracing for retaliation, Israel closed its airspace and said it was calling up tens of thousands of soldiers to protect the country's borders. Unclear how close Iran is to building a bomb Netanyahu claimed Friday that if Iran wasn't stopped, 'it could produce a nuclear weapon within a very short time.' But it likely would take Iran months to build a weapon, should it choose to do so. It also hasn't proved its ability to miniaturize a bomb to be placed atop missiles. Iranian officials have openly threatened to pursue the bomb. Tensions over Iran's rapid nuclear advances and growing reserves of highly enriched uranium are surging seven years after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. For the first time in two decades, the atomic watchdog agency on Thursday censured Iran for failing to comply with nuclear nonproliferation obligations meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon. In response, Iran said that it would open a previously undisclosed enrichment site and accelerate production of 60% highly enriched uranium, which could be easily processed to the 90% level used in nuclear weapons. Iran's nuclear sites have long been a flash point Iran has two main enrichment sites, Natanz, in central Isfahan province, and Fordo, near the Shiite holy city of Qom, some 90 kilometers southwest of Tehran. Both are designed to protect from potential airstrikes. Natanz is built underground on Iran's Central Plateau, and has been targeted several times in suspected Israeli sabotage attacks, as well as by the Stuxnet virus, believed to be an Israeli and American creation, which destroyed Iranian centrifuges. Fordo is buried deep inside mountain and protected by anti-aircraft batteries. It also hosts centrifuge cascades, but isn't as big a facility as Natanz. Explainer: What to know about Iran's nuclear sites Both sites have been the focus of the Trump administration's recent push to negotiate a new nuclear deal with Tehran. Trump said that he warned Netanyahu against launching an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities while diplomatic efforts were underway. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff was expected to meet his Iranian counterparts in Oman for a sixth round of negotiations to start Sunday. It wasn't clear if those talks would take place, or if the negotiations would ever resume following the strikes. Iran threatens retaliation Hours after the strikes, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened Israel would face 'severe punishment.' 'The powerful hand of the armed forces of the Islamic republic will not let (the attacks) go unpunished,' the leader added in a statement posted online. Other Iranian officials echoed his warning, pledging vengeance. State TV aired footage of Iranians chanting 'Death to Israel!' and 'Death to America!' From Washington, Trump said that the U.S. had not been involved in the attack and warned Iran against retaliations against American interests in the region.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
As legal fight over Guard deployment plays out, Noem vows to continue Trump's immigration crackdown
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pledged to carry on with the Trump administration's immigration crackdown despite waves of unrest across the U.S. Hours after her comment Thursday, a judge directed the president to return control to California over National Guard troops he deployed after protests erupted over the immigration crackdown, but an appeals court quickly put the brakes on that and temporarily blocked the order that was to go into effect on Friday. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled a hearing on the matter for Tuesday. The federal judge's temporary restraining order said the Guard deployment was illegal and both violated the Tenth Amendment and exceeded President Donald Trump's statutory authority. The order applied only to the National Guard troops and not Marines who were also deployed to the LA protests. The judge said he would not rule on the Marines because they were not out on the streets yet. Gov. Gavin Newsom who had asked the judge for an emergency stop to troops helping carry out immigration raids, had praised the order before it was blocked saying 'today was really about a test of democracy, and today we passed the test' and had said he would be redeploying Guard soldiers to 'what they were doing before Donald Trump commandeered them.' White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the president acted within his powers and that the federal judge's order 'puts our brave federal officials in danger. The district court has no authority to usurp the President's authority as Commander in Chief.' The developments unfolded as protests continued in cities nationwide and the country braced for major demonstrations against Trump over the weekend. 'This is only going to continue,' DHS chief says of raids Noem said the immigration raids that fueled the protests would move forward and agents have thousands of targets. 'This is only going to continue until we have peace on the streets of Los Angeles,' she said during a news conference that was interrupted by shouting from U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat who was forcibly removed from the event. Newsom has warned that the military intervention is part of a broader effort by Trump to overturn norms at the heart of the nation's democracy. He also said sending Guard troops on the raids has further inflamed tensions in LA. So far the protests have been centered mostly in downtown near City Hall and a federal detention center where some immigrants are being held. Much of the sprawling city has been spared from the protests. On the third night of an 8 p.m. curfew, Los Angeles police arrested several demonstrators who refused orders to leave a street downtown. Earlier in the night, officers with the Department of Homeland Security deployed flash bangs to disperse a crowd that had gathered near the jail, sending protesters sprinting away. Those incidents were outliers. As with the past two nights, the hours-long demonstrations remained peaceful and upbeat, drawing a few hundred attendees who marched through downtown chanting, dancing and poking fun at the Trump administration's characterization of the city as a 'war zone.' Elsewhere, demonstrations have picked up across the U.S., emerging in more than a dozen major cities. Some have led to clashes with police and hundreds have been arrested. Noem calls action in LA a blueprint The immigration agents conducting the raids in LA are 'putting together a model and a blueprint' for other communities, Noem said. She pledged that federal authorities 'are not going away' even though, she said, officers have been hit with rocks and bricks and assaulted. She said people with criminal records who are in the country illegally and violent protesters will 'face consequences.' 'Just because you think you're here as a citizen, or because you're a member of a certain group or you're not a citizen, it doesn't mean that you're going to be protected and not face consequences from the laws that this country stands for,' she said. Noem criticized the Padilla's interruption, calling it 'inappropriate.' A statement from her agency said the two met after the news conference for about 15 minutes, but it also chided him for 'disrespectful political theater.' Padilla said later that he was demanding answers about the 'increasingly extreme immigration enforcement actions' and only wanted to ask Noem a question. He said he was handcuffed but not arrested. 'If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, I can only imagine what they are doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers throughout the Los Angeles community,' he said. Military involvement escalates in LA The administration has said it is willing to send troops to other cities to assist with immigration enforcement and controlling disturbances — in line with what Trump promised during last year's campaign. Some 2,000 Guard soldiers were in the nation's second-largest city and were soon to be joined by 2,000 more, along with about 700 Marines, said Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, who is in charge of the operation. About 500 of the Guard troops deployed to the Los Angeles protests have been trained to accompany agents on immigration operations, Sherman said Wednesday. The Guard has the authority to temporarily detain people who attack officers, but any arrests must be made by law enforcement. States face questions on deploying troops With more demonstrations expected over the weekend, and the possibility that Trump could send troops to other states for immigration enforcement, governors are weighing what to do. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has put 5,000 National Guard members on standby in cities where demonstrations are planned. In other Republican-controlled states, governors have not said when or how they may deploy troops. A group of Democratic governors earlier signed a statement this week calling Trump's deployments 'an alarming abuse of power.' Hundreds arrested in LA protests There have been about 470 arrests since Saturday, the vast majority of which were for failing to leave the area at the request of law enforcement, according to the police department. There have been a handful of more serious charges, including for assault against officers and for possession of a Molotov cocktail and a gun. Nine officers have been hurt, mostly with minor injuries. ___ Rodriguez reported from San Francisco and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press writers Julie Watson in San Diego, Jesse Bedayn in Denver, and Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.
