Trump’s new travel ban: Which countries are affected and What you need to know
President Trump's new travel ban blocks nationals from 12 countries and imposes restrictions on seven others.
On Monday, June 9, President Donald Trump's new travel ban took place. This new measure prevents people from 12 countries from coming to the U.S. and restricting people from another 7 countries. This policy was announced as a national security concern after the firebombing attack in Colorado.
The travel ban 2025 is not the first one the U.S. president has enacted, as this measure similar to the one he enacted during his first term and promised to restore during his presidential campaign.
Which countries are affected?
While the ban fully restricts 12 countries, it also applies heightened restrictions to 7 more. Here is the full list:
Banned countries:
- Afghanistan
- Myanmar
- Chad
- Republic of Congo
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Haiti
- Iran
- Libya
- Somalia
- Sudan
- Yemen.
According to the White House, these countries have been "found to be deficient in regard to screening and vetting and determined to pose a very high risk to the United States," and that's the reason why they have been subjected to the ban.
Restricted countries:
- Burundi
- Cuba
- Laos
- Sierra Leone
- Togo
- Turkmenistan
- Venezuela.
The White House stated that the restricted countries, "also pose a high level of risk."
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How were these countries banned from the U.S.?
According to Donald Trump's own words, the countries on both lists were chosen considering the following factors:
- large-scale presence of terrorists
- failure to cooperate on visa security
- inability to verify travelers' identities
- inadequate record-keeping of criminal histories
- persistently high rates of illegal visa overstays
While according to the Association Press, the U.S. State Department has already instructed the embassies and consulates last week not to revoke the visas already issued to people from the 12 banned countries; the ban is supposed to target visa application processes, including those already in progress.
