Trump signs travel ban on nationals from 12 countries, restrictions on 7 more

President Trump on Wednesday signed a proclamation barring travelers and immigrants from a dozen countries and restricting the entry of nationals of another seven nations, citing concerns about national security.

Mr. Trump’s proclamation fully bans the entry of foreigners from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. With certain exemptions, Mr. Trump’s order bans citizens of those countries seeking to come to the U.S. permanently as legal immigrants, as well as temporary visa holders, like tourists.

The president also partially suspended the entry of travelers and immigrants from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. That part of his proclamation applies to all prospective immigrants from these countries with visas to settle in the U.S. permanently and certain temporary visa holders.

The ban is set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, June 9. 

Mr. Trump said the sweeping entry restrictions were necessary to address concerns related to terrorism in the countries listed in the order, inadequate vetting of the affected nationals and the lack of cooperation on deportations among some of the nations.

“President Trump is fulfilling his promise to protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors that want to come to our country and cause us harm. 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. President Trump will always act in the best of interest of the American people and their safety,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told CBS News.

Mr. Trump’s decree contains certain exemptions, including for U.S. permanent residents, the spouses and children of U.S. citizens who have “clear and convincing evidence of identity and family relationship,” Afghans who assisted American forces and have special visas, diplomats, athletes and dual nationals with a passport from a country not listed in his proclamation.

The announcement of the ban follows an attack Sunday in Boulder, Colorado, on marchers raising attention for Israelis taken hostage by Hamas. The suspect was identified by U.S. officials as an Egyptian national who had overstayed his tourist visa.

While Mr. Trump did not place any restrictions on the entry of Egyptian nationals, his proclamation directed officials to assess the “adequacy” of Egypt’s vetting policies, “in light of recent events.”

In a video statement released by the White House Wednesday night, Mr. Trump said the Boulder attack “underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas. We don’t want them.” 

He said the list could be revised if countries make material improvements, and new countries could be added as threats emerge. 

Mr. Trump’s actions echo a series of travel bans issued during his first administration that initially targeted predominantly Muslim countries. Like those orders, his latest proclamation could be subject to lawsuits.

In the first month of his first term, January 2017, Mr. Trump signed a travel ban restricting the entry of most citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The move triggered widespread outcry, chaos at airports and legal challenges from advocates who argued the ban was discriminatory.

In March 2017, Mr. Trump removed Iraq from the list and added Chad, Venezuela and North Korea. In 2020, he expanded the ban, adding immigration restrictions for nationals of Nigeria, Eritrea, Sudan, Tanzania, Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan. Chad was later removed from the list.

The third version of Mr. Trump’s first-term ban was ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court in the summer of 2018, with the conservative justices citing the president’s broad authority to restrict the entry of foreigners on national security grounds. The Biden administration scrapped that ban after it took office.