Latest news with #MuslimBan
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trump's new travel ban is a gratuitously cruel sequel
I'm not much for horror movies, but I have just read that the film Black Phone 2 'will creep into cinemas' in October and that, compared to the original, it's supposed to be a 'more violent, scarier, more graphic' film. I'll pass on the movie, but that description seems pretty apt to what living under this Trump administration feels like: a gratuitously more violent sequel to a ghoulish original. Consider the Muslim ban. Back in late 2015, candidate Donald Trump called for 'a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on'. He signed the first version of the Muslim ban on 27 January 2017, and protests erupted at airports across the nation at the revival of a national policy, similar to the Chinese Exclusion Act, that bars entry of whole swaths of people based on our national prejudices. It took the Trump administration three attempts at crafting this policy before the supreme court tragically greenlit it. While Joe Biden later reversed the policy, congressional moves to restrict the president's ability to institute these blanket bans – such as the No Ban Act – have not succeeded. And on the first day of his second term, Trump indicated he was prepared to institute a wider-reaching travel ban. He has now done just that. The new executive order will 'fully restrict and limit the entry [to the US] of nationals of the following 12 countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen' and will also 'partially restrict and limit the entry of nationals of the following 7 countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela'. Yes, there are key cutouts in the latest travel ban that make it a different animal from the original 2017 ban, but it still derives from the same family. Green-card holders, those with valid visas issued before the executive order was proclaimed, and professional athletes representing their countries in the forthcoming World Cup, for example, are exempt, illustrating how the administration has learned to write more litigation-resistant immigration exclusion orders. But make no mistake. Such a policy is alienating, counterproductive and simply racist. For one thing, Trump claims that the ban is necessary because the selected countries exhibit either 'a significant terrorist presence', a lack of cooperation in accepting back their nationals, or high rates of visa overstays. According to the Entry/Exit Overstay Report for fiscal year 2023 (the last one available), the number of people from Equatorial Guinea, a small African country, who overstayed their B1/B2 visas (travel to the US for business or pleasure) was 200. From the United Kingdom, it was 15,712. It's true that the percentage (as opposed to the number) of people overstaying their visas from Equatorial Guinea is significantly higher than UK overstays. But Djibouti, which hosts the primary US military base in for operations in Africa, has an even higher percentage of B1/B2 visa overstayers than Equatorial Guinea – yet it isn't part of the ban, illustrating how much it is based on narrow political calculations and cheap theatrics. The capriciousness of the policy was immediately evident after Trump released a video explaining his decision. 'The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, has underscored the extreme dangers posed for our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstayed their visas,' he said, adding: 'We don't want them.' Yet, as everyone knows, the suspect in the Boulder, Colorado, attack is an Egyptian national, another key US ally. And Egypt is not on the list. Nor should it be, because these lists of banned countries collapse individuals into vague categories of suspicion and malfeasance. Why should the actions of one person from any given country mark a completely different person as inadmissible? Trump may sound tough to his supporters when announcing the ban, but such broad-brush applications against basically all the nationals of comparatively powerless countries is hardly the flex that Trump thinks it is. In the eyes of the rest of the world, the new policy mostly makes the administration look like a bully, picking on a handful of Muslim-majority countries, a few African and Asian states, a couple of its traditional enemies, and Haiti. Meanwhile, the rest of the world also sees how the Trump administration has withdrawn temporary protections from more than 500,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela and Nicaragua, suspended refugee resettlement from around the world, and yet welcomed in dozens of white Afrikaners from South Africa to the United States as refugees. The ethnocentrism of the policy is as naked as it is opportunistic. The truth is that the damage from Trump's first-term Muslim ban was long-lasting and had all kinds of collateral impact, including on the mental health of family members living in the United States. And immigrant advocacy organizations are already sharply criticizing this latest version. AfghanEvac, a non-profit organization that facilitates the resettlement of Afghans who worked with American troops, stated that the new ban 'is not about national security – it is about political theater'. To include Afghanistan among the banned countries, even as thousands of Afghans worked alongside American forces, is to Shawn VanDiver, the group's founder and president, 'a moral disgrace. It spits in the face of our allies, our veterans, and every value we claim to uphold.' Trump's latest travel ban, his ramped-up immigration deportation regime, his international student crackdown, and his all but ending asylum in the United States add up to a clearly a concerted attempt to stave off the inevitable while vilifying the marginal. Demographers have been telling us for years now that the US will be a 'majority minority' country around 2045, a prospect that has long frightened many of the white conservatives who make up Trump's base. In response, Trump is pursuing a policy that draws on the most basic kind of nativism around, and one we've seen before in the United States. The 1924 Immigration Act severely restricted immigration to the US to keep America as white and as western European as possible. Only in 1965 were the laws finally changed, with the national immigration quotas lifted, laying the foundation for the multicultural society we have today. That earlier movie of epic exclusion lasted some 41 years. So far, this sequel is violent, scary and authoritarian. It had better be a short film. Moustafa Bayoumi is a Guardian US columnist
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Somalia among 12 countries included in new Trump travel ban
Somalia among 12 countries included in new Trump travel ban originally appeared on Bring Me The News. Somalia is among the 12 countries subject to the latest travel ban imposed by President Donald Trump. The president has announced that from Monday, visitors from a dozen countries will not be permitted to enter the U.S., with Somalia joined by Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Sudan and Yemen. It follows a similar measure enacted by Trump in 2017 during his first term, which was dubbed the "Muslim Ban" when he banned residents of seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S., which also included Somalia, as well as imposing a four-month ban on refugees. The inclusion once again of Somalia on the new travel ban list will have an outsized impact on Minnesota, which has the largest Somali population in the U.S., with more than 85,000 residents of Somali descent currently living in the state. News of the ban was swiftly condemned by Rep. Ilhan Omar, the 3rd District congresswoman who was herself born in Somalia. "This discriminatory policy is beyond shameful," she said. "Just like his first Muslim Ban, this latest announcement flies in the face of basic morality and goes directly against our values. "This racist policy will not make us safe, it will separate families and endanger lives. We cannot let it stand." As well as the 12 banned countries, there will also be heightened restrictions on visitors from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. In a video shared on social media, President Trump linked the ban to the antisemitic terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado, this past weekend, when a man allegedly yelling "Free Palestine" threw molotov cocktails at a crowd of protesters calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. The suspect has been identified as an Egyptian national who the Department of Homeland Security says overstayed a tourist visa. Egypt is not included on the ban list, which the Associated Press reports appears to have been compiled primarily based on a DHS report of tourist, business, and student visa overstays, with countries with the highest percentages picked out. In the case of Somalia, the White House describes it as a "terrorist safe haven," claiming the country does "not have appropriate screening and vetting measures" and has "historically refused to accept back its removable nationals." This story was originally reported by Bring Me The News on Jun 5, 2025, where it first appeared.
Al Jazeera
5 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
World reacts to Trump's travel ban, hits several nations mired in conflict
Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning citizens from 12 countries from entering the country in a move he said was to protect the US from 'foreign terrorists', mirroring a contentious policy from his first term as United States president. As part of Trump's intensified crackdown on immigration, a cornerstone of his previous time in the White House and on the campaign trail, he announced on Wednesday that nationals from 12 countries – Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen – will be banned. Seven countries will also be subject to partial restrictions, which will mean they will no longer be able to apply for immigrant or non-immigrant temporary visas. However, some temporary work visas will still be allowed. Trump cited an attack in Boulder, Colorado, where a man threw a petrol bomb into a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators, as proof of the need for immigration curbs. 'The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted,' Trump said in a video message from the Oval Office posted on X. 'We don't want them,' he added. This latest travel ban follows Trump's executive order during his first term, in which he banned nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries, also known as the 'Muslim ban,' in 2017. Seven of the countries on the new list of those banned also have Muslim-majority populations and several are beset by ongoing conflicts. Despite the new suspensions, the ban will not apply to existing visa holders, foreign diplomats, athletes and their teams, among other exemptions. The ban is expected to come into effect on June 9 at 12:01 am EDT (04:01 GMT). Here's how the world has reacted to the ban. The AU, which has seven of the 12 nations on the travel ban list, said the ban would harm 'people-to-people ties, educational exchange, commercial engagement, and broader diplomatic relations' that were built with the US over past decades. 'The African Union Commission respectfully calls upon the US administration to consider adopting a more consultative approach and to engage in constructive dialogue with the countries concerned,' the bloc said in a statement. President of Oxfam America, Abby Maxman, said the decision was not about 'national security'. 'It is about sowing division and vilifying communities that are seeking safety and opportunity in the United States,' Maxman said. The Somali ambassador to the US, Dahir Hassan Abdi, said in a statement that Mogadishu 'values its longstanding relationship with the United States'. '[Somalia] stands ready to engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised,' Abdi said. Interior minister Diosdado Cabello described the ban as a 'great risk for anyone, not just Venezuelans'. 'They persecute our countrymen, our people, for no reason,' he said. Venezuelan migrants in the US have been targeted by the Trump administration for deportation to El Salvador, many on unproven allegations of being gang members.
NBC News
5 days ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Fury and resignation around the world as Trump's travel ban comes roaring back
Nationals of 12 countries will be barred from entering the United States: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Partial bans have also been placed on nationals from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Many on the list are majority-Muslim countries, and several of those began observing the Hajj pilgrimage holiday late Wednesday, making an immediate response less likely. Officials at U.S. embassies in Libya, Chad, Eritrea, Sudan and Turkmenistan were not available for comment. Still, Shawn VanDiver, President of the Afghan refugee advocacy group #AfghanEvac's referred to the ban as 'political theater' and 'a second Muslim Ban, dressed up in bureaucracy.' Trump began a video address on Wednesday by citing recent violence in Boulder, Colorado, where an Egyptian man seeking asylum with an expired tourist visa injured at least 12 demonstrators in what city officials called an antisemitic attack, as justification for a renewed travel ban. Egypt is not on the list of banned countries, but its absence speaks to the importance of Egyptian influence both on American Middle East policy and in the region at large, said Ahmed Aboudouh, an associate fellow at the London-based think tank, Chatham House. The proclamation largely affects 'conflict-prone [nations], or ones which have security issues at this time, or don't have the diplomatic or security heft to respond very aggressively to this U.S. ban,' Aboudouh said. 'We're not seeing the U.S. going after its strategic partners in either the Middle East or Africa.' The White House's decision sparked a carefully-worded rebuke from the African Union Commission, which in a statement Thursday urged the U.S. to exercise its right to protect its borders 'in a manner that is balanced, evidence-based, and reflective of the long-standing partnership between the United States and Africa.' 'The Commission remains concerned about the potential negative impact of such measures on... relations that have been carefully nurtured over decades,' it added.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Map shows the countries affected by Trump's new travel ban
Donald Trump has signed a proclamation imposing new travel restrictions on more than a dozen countries, reviving a controversial policy from his first term. The executive action, which comes into effect at 12.01am on Monday, 9 June, targets 19 nations deemed to pose national security risks, citing issues like inadequate vetting, terrorism concerns, or high visa overstay rates. Announcing his decision to impose the ban, Trump said: 'We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm.' The ban categorises countries into tiers, with some facing full entry prohibitions and others partial visa restrictions. While the list includes nations from Africa including Somalia, as well as Asian countries including Myanmar, it expands beyond the Muslim-majority countries targeted in Trump's earlier bans. Yahoo News UK has created an interactive map detailing all 19 countries subject to Trump's new travel restrictions. Zoom in and click on each country to uncover the specific reasons for the ban given by Trump's administration: In 2017, during his first term, Trump introduced a travel ban targeting seven predominantly Muslim-majority countries – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. The policy, labelled by critics as a 'Muslim ban', sparked widespread protests and legal challenges for discriminating based on nationality and religion, leading to multiple court blocks. A watered-down version that removed Iraq from the list and removed a permanent ban on Syrian refugees, was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018 and remained in place until the end of Trump's first term in January 2021, when then-president Joe Biden revoked it after taking office, calling it a 'stain on our national conscience'. Trump's 2025 proclamation reinstates and expands these restrictions, now covering a broader range of countries. Critics have slammed Trump's new travel ban as a discriminatory overreach that risks isolating the US globally and harming its economy. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat congresswoman from Washington, wrote on X that it was an expansion of the 'Muslim ban,' adding that it 'will only further isolate us on the world stage'. Venezuela's interior minister Diosdado Cabello warned that 'being in the United States is a great risk for anyone, not just for Venezuelans'. Read my full statement on Trump's dangerous Travel Ban 2.0. — Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) June 5, 2025 President Trump's new travel ban is discriminatory, racist, and downright cruel. By targeting people based on their nationality, this ban only spreads disinformation and hate. — Amnesty International USA (@amnestyusa) June 5, 2025 Meanwhile, human rights group Amnesty International USA described the ban as 'discriminatory, racist, and downright cruel', while the US-based Human Rights First said it was 'yet another anti-immigrant and punitive action taken' by Trump. They added: 'Bans do nothing to make our country secure, but rather undermine our national security and arbitrarily target those most in need of protection.' 'Cruel, racist, and un-American': House Dems blast Trump's latest travel ban (HuffPost) Trump's new travel ban: The notable countries omitted (Sky News) How Trump's travel ban will (and won't) affect World Cup, sports (Yahoo Sports)
