President Donald Trump took executive action on Wednesday to ban travel from a dozen countries and place partial restrictions on travel from seven more.
The memorandum directs to “fully restrict and limit” travel from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Partial travel restrictions will be placed on Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
“The United States must ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists or other threats to our national security,” the memorandum says.
The directive is set to take effect on Monday.
“The restrictions and limitations imposed by this proclamation are, in my judgment, necessary to prevent the entry or admission of foreign nationals about whom the United States Government lacks sufficient information to assess the risks they pose to the United States,” the memorandum states.
Trump’s order says that the targeted countries have failed to build adequate “information-sharing and identity-management procedures” and that immigration from some of the countries can increase the risk of terrorism in the United States.
“Nationals of some countries also pose significant risks of overstaying their visas in the United States, which increases burdens on immigration and law enforcement components of the United States, and often exacerbates other risks related to national security and public safety,” the memorandum says.
In a video posted to his Truth Social account, Trump cited the recent attack in Boulder, Colorado, on a demonstration in support of hostages in Gaza. According to authorities, that attack was carried out by an Egyptian national who was in the country illegally after overstaying his visa.
The Boulder attack “underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign national who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas,” Trump said, adding, “we don’t want them!”
The president issued a similar order during his first term banning almost all travel from Iran, Syria, Yemen, Libya, and Somalia. He also placed restrictions on travel from North Korea and banned government officials from Venezuela.
After a legal fight, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to uphold Trump’s travel ban, which Trump at the time called “a tremendous victory for the American People and the Constitution.”
“In this era of worldwide terrorism and extremist movements bent on harming innocent civilians, we must properly vet those coming into our country,” Trump said in a statement at the time. “This ruling is also a moment of profound vindication following months of hysterical commentary from the media and Democratic politicians who refuse to do what it takes to secure our border and our country.”
