The new travel ban ordered by US President Donald Trump is set to come into effect from Monday. The ban restricts citizens of 12 countries -- mostly from Africa and the Middle East -- from entering the United States. The White House said the ban was meant to tighten immigration rules for protecting national security and will exempt certain individuals, including certain athletes and diplomats.
The order, signed last Wednesday, bans all travel to the United States by nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, according to the White House.
Trump also imposed a partial ban on travellers from seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Some temporary work visas from those countries will be allowed.
"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. We don't want them," Trump said in a video message posted on the social media platform X.
Who Will Be Excluded
The Trump order said the ban will not apply to athletes competing in the 2026 World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico. It will also not apply to athletes participating in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Nor will it apply to diplomats from the targeted countries, according to Stephane Dujarric, spokesman of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, headquartered in New York.
"As we've said before, whatever system is put in place (should be) one that respects people's human dignity," said Dujarric, who added it was for individual countries to determine how to control their borders.
Ban Comes After Colorado Attack
The ban came days after the fire attack on Jewish protesters in Colorado, with his administration vowing to pursue "terrorists" living in the United States on visas.
US officials said suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national according to court documents, was in the country illegally, having overstayed a tourist visa, but that he had applied for asylum in September 2022.
Trump gave specific reasons for each country facing travel restrictions -- a list that notably did not include Egypt -- insisting the move aimed to protect the United States from "foreign terrorists and other national security" threats.
His proclamation said Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and war-torn Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen lacked "competent" central authorities for processing passports and vetting.
Iran, with which the United States is in negotiations on a possible nuclear deal, was included because it is a "state sponsor of terrorism," the order said.
For most of the other countries, Trump's order cited an above-average likelihood that people would overstay their visas.
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