What to know about Trump's new travel ban
A full travel ban will affect citizens of the following countries:
Afghanistan
Chad
Republic of Congo
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Haiti
Iran
Libya
Myanmar
Somalia
Sudan
Yemen
Partial restrictions will apply to citizens of other countries, meaning they cannot come to the country permanently or apply for certain visas. They are:
Burundi
Cuba
Laos
Sierra Leone
Togo
Turkmenistan
Venezuela
What is the administration saying?
Trump, who announced the ban in a proclamation, said it was intended to protect 'the national security and national interest of the United States and its people.' It is his latest effort to further restrict immigration since returning to office in January, coming after his administration blocked asylum-seekers at the southern border, barred international students from Harvard University and ordered immigration raids across the country.
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.
Enter Email
Sign Up
Cabinet officials in April had identified a list of countries where vetting and screening information surrounding visa applicants was 'deficient' enough to warrant a full or partial suspension, the action said.
Advertisement
The order accused many countries of the list of exploiting the US visa system and failing to cooperate with the United States on deportations. The action said citizens of some countries had a higher risk of overstaying their visas, which added to burdens on law enforcement agencies.
The announcement came days after an Egyptian man who overstayed his visa was arrested in Colorado and charged with attacking a group honoring hostages being held in the Gaza Strip. But Egypt is not subject to the ban.
Advertisement
What are the exceptions?
The new travel ban does not apply to people with visas who are already in the United States, and it includes a few other exemptions.
For example, Afghans eligible for the Special Immigrant Visa program, which is for those who helped the US government during the war in Afghanistan, are excepted from the ban.
Other exceptions include green card holders, dual citizens and athletes or coaches traveling for a major sporting event held in the United States, like the World Cup or the Olympics.
What are the reactions from the banned countries?
The announcement provoked swift reaction from some of the affected countries.
Venezuela's interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, called the US government 'fascist,' saying that 'being in the United States is a big risk for anybody, not just for Venezuelans.'
The African Union released a statement Thursday expressing concern and noting 'the potential negative impact' the move could have on interpersonal relationships, commerce, education and 'diplomatic relations that have been carefully nurtured over decades.'
Somalia's ambassador to the United States -- whose country Trump's order labeled a 'terrorist safe haven' -- took a more conciliatory approach. The ambassador, Dahir Hassan Abdi, said in a statement that his government was 'ready to engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised.'
The State Department issued about 170,000 visas last year to people from the 12 countries on the list, most of which were nonimmigrant visitor visas for tourism, business or study. That is a small fraction of the millions of visas it issues every year.
How does this compare with the last Trump travel ban?
In 2017, shortly after taking office, Trump announced a ban on travelers from seven mostly Muslim-majority countries. (Five of those countries are on the list again.) The move, announced in an executive order, took effect immediately and caused chaos, with hundreds of travelers being detained at airports. After a legal battle, the Supreme Court eventually permitted a rewritten ban, and the list of countries later evolved. President Joe Biden ended the ban after taking office.
Advertisement
The new ban includes countries in more parts of the world and could affect more people than the bans Trump introduced during his first term.
This time around, Trump's effort is more likely to withstand legal scrutiny, experts said, partly because of a longer lead-up to the announcement and the range of countries affected.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump's Vetting Official Hasn't Been Fully Vetted for His Own Security Clearance
President Donald Trump's man in charge of vetting staff has not yet been fully vetted himself for a security clearance five months into the second Trump administration. Sergio Gor is the director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. He is tasked with vetting thousands of executive branch employees. However, Gor has not yet submitted paperwork on his own background for a permanent clearance, according to a report from the New York Post which cited multiple sources. Gor's office is responsible for assessing candidates for approximately 4,000 political appointees including recruiting and screening candidates as well as dealing with security clearances and conflicts of interests. Some 1,600 of the positions require Senate confirmation. The powerful Trump aide has yet to turn in his Standard Form 86, or SF-86, the more than 100-page background investigation form required for a security clearance, three administration sources said. The extensive form covers citizenship, employment history, relatives, foreign contacts and travel, financial activities, drug use and more. Gor, 38, is reportedly from Malta. However, an official there could not confirm his birthplace, and Gor declined to provide it to the Post besides to say it was not Russia. Gor is a close MAGA ally of Trump and his son Don Jr. with whom he co-founded Winning Team Publishing in 2021. The top Trump aide also once worked as a booker for Fox News and as a spokesperson for Sen. Rand Paul. He also served as officiant and DJ at Matt Gaetz's wedding in 2021, according to Vanity Fair. While his work largely takes place behind the scenes at the White House, Gor made headlines earlier this month for being the person behind the move to withdraw Jared Isaacman's nomination to lead NASA and clashing with While he does not have a permanent security clearance, the Trump staffer does have an interim security clearance. Gor opposed the use of the SF-86 during the presidential transition and was concerned with Trump picks being weeded out by the 'deep state.' A source told the Post that he was 'actively working to convince everyone' that the form wasn't necessary and Trump could provide the clearance through executive authority. A White House official claimed Gor had completed the form and noted his interim clearance, which is given while background checks are completed. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt accused the Post of 'engaging in baseless gossip.' White House counsel David Warrington also told the Post that Gor is 'fully compliant with all applicable ethical and legal security clearance is active, any insinuation he doesn't maintain a clearance is false.'
Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Musk Savages ‘Snake' Trump Aide as Their White House Feud Erupts
Elon Musk publicly ripped into a top White House aide who fueled his falling out with President Donald Trump. Tensions had already been building between Musk and Trump before the SpaceX chief left the White House. Things got ugly, however, after Sergio Gor, the director of the presidential personnel office, encouraged Trump to rescind his nomination for Jared Isaacman—Musk's personal friend—to lead NASA. The New York Post revealed this week that even though Gor is in charge of vetting thousands of executive branch employees, he himself hasn't been fully vetted. Five months into the second Trump administration, he hasn't even submitted the paperwork for his own permanent security clearance. 'He's a snake,' Musk wrote on his social media platform X late Wednesday in response to the Post's report. According to the Post, Gor, 38, developed a grudge against Musk, 53, after the Tesla chief—who as head of the government cost-cutting task force DOGE was a de facto member of Trump's Cabinet—'humiliated' him in front of other Cabinet members for not staffing the administration quickly enough. 'Sergio was upset about Elon dressing him down at the meeting and said he was going to 'get him,'' a source told the paper. At the time, Musk and Trump were still on friendly terms, but Gor was openly gleeful whenever Tesla stock plunged, according to the report. After Musk's special government employee status expired, forcing him to leave the White House, Gor reportedly got his revenge on Musk by convincing Trump to pull Isaacman's nomination just days before the Senate was scheduled to vote on the appointment. The administration blamed the move on Isaacman's previous donations to Democrats, but the billionaire financial technology executive said he didn't think that was the real reason, considering his donation history had long been in the public domain. After the nomination was pulled, Musk—who poured more than $250 million into the president's re-election campaign—began publicly trying to tank the president's flagship 'big beautiful' budget bill. Surprisingly little is known about Gor, including his birthplace, according to the Post. He declined to tell the paper where he was born, except to say that it wasn't Russia. It's previously been reported that he was born in Malta, but an official there couldn't confirm that information, the paper said. Together with Donald Trump Jr., Gor co-founded a publishing company that published several of Trump's books following the end of President Trump's first term, according to the New York Times. In a statement to the Daily Beast, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, 'Sergio Gor is a trusted adviser to President Trump and he has played a critical role in helping President Trump staff the most talented administration in history.' Gor's office is responsible for assessing candidates for about 4,000 political appointees, including handling security clearances and conflicts of interest. Gor, however, has yet to turn in Standard Form 86, the 100-page background investigation form required for a security clearance, according to the Post. The form covers citizenship, employment history, relatives, foreign contacts and travel, financial activities, drug use, and more. Despite three sources saying otherwise, a White House official claimed Gor had completed the SF-86 form and noted that he has an interim security clearance, which is given while background checks are completed. Leavitt accused the Post of 'engaging in baseless gossip.'
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
How Trump has targeted Harvard's international students — and what the latest court ruling means
President Donald Trump and his administration have tried several tactics to block Harvard University's enrollment of international students, part of the White House's effort to secure policy changes at the private, Ivy League college. Targeting foreign students has become the administration's cornerstone effort to crack down on the nation's oldest and wealthiest college. The block on international enrollment, which accounts for a quarter of Harvard's students and much of its global allure , strikes at the core of Harvard's identity. Courts have stopped some of the government's actions, at least for now — but not all.
