WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump signed a proclamation banning travel from certain countries to “protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors”, the White House said on Wednesday (Jun 4).
The proclamation fully restricts and limits the entry of nationals from 12 countries: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
The entry of people from seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela, will be partially restricted.
The countries facing the total ban were found “to be deficient with regards to screening and vetting and determined to pose a very high risk to the United States”, according to a statement provided by the White House.
The White House said the proclamation will be effective from 12.01am Eastern Time on Jun 9. Visas issued before that date will not be revoked, the order said.
Athletes, including coaches and immediate relatives, travelling for the World Cup, Olympics or other major sporting events are exempted, it added.
Trump said the travel ban was spurred by the Colorado attack and is subject to revision, adding that other countries may be included as threats emerge around the world.
An Egyptian national, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, has been charged with attacking a crowd taking part in a Jewish protest in Colorado. He allegedly used firebombs, injuring eight people. US authorities have blamed Monday’s attack on the man, whom they say was in the country illegally.
Federal officials added Soliman had overstayed his tourist visa and had an expired work permit – although Egypt is not on the list of countries facing travel limits.
“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.”
Trump compared the new measures to the “powerful” ban he imposed on a number of mainly Muslim countries in his first term, which he said had stopped the US suffering attacks that happened in Europe.
“We will not let what happened in Europe happen in America,” Trump said.
“We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen. That is why today I am signing a new executive order placing travel restrictions on countries, including Yemen, Somalia, Haiti, Libya, and numerous others.”
Trump also said the countries subject to the most severe restrictions were determined to harbour a “large-scale presence of terrorists”.
Rumours of a new Trump travel ban had circulated following the attack in Colorado, with his administration vowing to pursue “terrorists” living in the US on visas.
“President Trump is fulfilling his promise to protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors that want to come to our country and cause us harm,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson said on X.
“These commonsense restrictions are country-specific and include places that lack proper vetting, exhibit high visa overstay rates, or fail to share identity and threat information.”
Somalia immediately pledged to work with the US to address security issues.
“Somalia values its long-standing relationship with the United States and stands ready to engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised,” Dahir Hassan Abdi, the Somali ambassador to the US, said in a statement.
During his first term in office, Trump announced a ban on travellers from seven majority-Muslim nations, a policy that went through several iterations before it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.
Former US president Joe Biden, a Democrat who succeeded Trump, repealed the ban in 2021, calling it “a stain on our national conscience”.
Trump’s directive is part of an immigration crackdown that he launched at the start of his second term.
He previewed his plan in an October 2023 speech, pledging to restrict people from the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and “anywhere else that threatens our security”.
Trump issued an executive order on Jan 20 requiring intensified security vetting of any foreigners seeking admission to the US to detect national security threats.
That order directed several cabinet members to submit a list of countries from which travel should be partly or fully suspended because their “vetting and screening information is so deficient”.
