WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump signed a new travel ban that comes into effect on Monday targeting 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran and Yemen, reviving one of the most controversial measures from his first term.
Trump said on Wednesday the measure was spurred by a makeshift flamethrower attack on a Jewish protest in Colorado that US authorities blamed on a man they said was in the country illegally.
The move bans all travel to the United States by nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, 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,” Trump said in a video message from the Oval Office posted on social media platform X.
“We don’t want them.”
World Cup, Olympics excluded
The ban will not apply to athletes competing in the 2026 World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, as well as the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Trump’s order said.
Trump announced separately on Wednesday a ban on visas for foreign students who are set to begin attending Harvard University, ramping up his crackdown on what he regards as a bastion of liberalism. Amnesty International USA called the ban “discriminatory, racist, and downright cruel.”
With seven of the 12 countries banned from Africa, the African Union said it would harm “people-to-people ties, education exchange, commercial engagement, and broader diplomatic relations” and urged “constructive dialogue”.
Chad’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Sabre Fadoul told AFP that the government was “surprised” by the ban and said it “completely disregards” N’Djamena’s commitment to tackling terror.
In Myanmar, one student affected by the ban only got her US study visa two days ago and said it would hit many young people’s dreams of escaping oppression.
“We don’t really have life here, and people want to escape to a country where we can breathe, we can walk, we can study,” she told AFP from Yangon.
“I think it’s very shocking.”
The ban could yet face legal challenges, as have many of the drastic measures Trump has taken since his whirlwind return to office in January.
Trump gave specific reasons for each country in his proclamation, which says it is aimed at protecting the United States from “foreign terrorists and other national security” threats. – Agencies
