U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a new travel ban targeting 12 countries, alongside heightened entry restrictions for citizens from seven additional nations.
The measures are set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Monday.
The travel ban applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
In addition to the outright ban, new restrictions will be imposed on travelers from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
“I must act to protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people,” Trump stated in his official proclamation.
Of the 19 countries affected, ten are located in Africa. Several of these, including Sierra Leone, Togo, and Equatorial Guinea, are not typically associated with armed groups that pose direct threats to the West.
The updated list follows a January 20 executive order signed by President Trump, directing the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence to assess countries based on “hostile attitudes” toward the U.S. and whether allowing entry from those nations could pose a national security threat.
This move echoes Trump’s controversial executive order from January 2017, which banned entry into the U.S. from seven predominantly Muslim countries—Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen. That order, widely known as the “Muslim ban” or “travel ban,” was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018.
