WASHINGTON (AP) — Governments of 12 countries whose citizens will be banned from visiting the United States beginning next week scrambled on Thursday to understand President Donald Trump’s latest move to resurrect a hallmark policy of his first term.
The ban takes effect Monday at 12:01 a.m., a cushion that may avoid the chaos that unfolded at airports nationwide when a similar measure took effect with virtually no notice in 2017. Trump, who signaled plans for a new ban upon taking office again in January, appears to be on firmer ground this time after the Supreme Court sided with him.
Some of the 12 countries also appeared on the list of banned countries in the Republican president’s first term. The new ban targets Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
There will also be heightened restrictions on visitors from seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. North Korea and Syria, which were on the banned list in the first Trump administration, were spared this time.
Trump tied the new ban to Sunday’s terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, saying it underscored the dangers posed by some visitors who overstay visas. The suspect in the attack is from Egypt, which is not on Trump’s restricted list. The Department of Homeland Security says he overstayed a tourist visa.
The travel ban results from a Jan. 20 executive order Trump issued requiring the departments of State and Homeland Security and the director of national intelligence to compile a report on “hostile attitudes” toward the U.S. and whether entry from certain countries represented a national security risk.
Visa overstays
Trump said some countries had “deficient” screening and vetting or have historically refused to take back their own citizens. His findings rely extensively on an annual Homeland Security report of visa overstays of tourists, business visitors and students who arrive by air and sea, singling out countries with high percentages of those remaining after their visas expired.
Capturing overstay rates has riddled experts for decades, but the government has made a limited attempt annually since 2016. Trump’s proclamation cites overstay rates for eight of the 12 banned countries.
While Trump’s list captures many of the most egregious offenders, it omits others. Djibouti, for example, had a 23..9% overstay rate among business visitors and tourists in the 12-month period through September 2023, higher than seven countries on the banned list and six countries on the restricted list.
The findings are “based on sketchy data and a misguided concept of collective punishment,” said Doug Rand, a former Biden administration official at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Reactions
Venezuela’s interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, said being in the United States is a “great risk.” The decision is a significant blow to Venezuelans, who were already limited in their U.S. travel plans since both governments broke diplomatic relations in 2019.
The announcement stunned the family of Venezuelan María Aldana, who has long worked multiple jobs in Caracas to support her brother’s dream to study engineering in the U.S. The family has spent more than $6,000 to finance his goals.
Aldana, 24, said her distraught brother, who enrolled at a Southern California university two years ago, called the family crying.
“We did it all legally,” Aldana said.
The African Union Commission, meanwhile, appealed to the United States to reconsider “in a manner that is balanced, evidence-based, and reflective of the long-standing partnership between the United States and Africa.”
International aid groups and refugee resettlement organizations took a harsher tone: “This policy is not about national security — it is about sowing division and vilifying communities that are seeking safety and opportunity in the United States,” said Abby Maxman, president of Oxfam America.
A travel agent in Somalia said the policy threatens the travel and service industry.
“The United States is home to the largest Somali diaspora in the world, and for years it has been one of our most active and reliable destinations,” said Bashir Farah Ali, manager of Kofi Express Travel Services. “Every month I facilitated travel for at least 10 clients, mostly government officials attending conferences, diplomatic meetings, or U.N. events, as well as ordinary citizens traveling to reunite with their families after years of separation.”
Shock in Iran
The news came as a shock to many in Iran despite the decades of enmity between the two countries. Reports suggest thousands of university students each year travel to America to study, and others have extended families living in America, some of whom fled after the initial 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew the shah.
“My elder daughter got a bachelor’s degree from a top Iranian university and planned to continue in the U.S., but now she is badly distressed,” Nasrin Lajvardi said.
While tensions also remain high as negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program have yet to reach any agreement, Tehran resident Mehri Soltani offered rare support for Trump’s decision.
“Those who have family members in the U.S., it’s their right to go, but a bunch of bad people and terrorists and murderers want to go there as well,” he said.
‘American has to cancel it’
Outside the former U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, a Taliban guard expressed his disappointment.
“America has no right to do this and implement this ban,” Ilias Kakal said. “America has to cancel it.”
In Afghanistan’s capital, travel agents pointed out the ban would have little practical effect as Afghan passport holders had been facing problems in getting U.S. visas anyway for years.
Since the Taliban took over the country in 2021, only Afghans with foreign passports or green cards were able to travel to the United States with any ease, they said, while even those applying for special visas due to their work with U.S. forces in Afghanistan in previous years were facing problems.
First term ban
During his first term, Trump issued an executive order banning travel to the U.S. by citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries. It was one of the most chaotic and confusing moments of his young presidency.
The order, often referred to as the “Muslim ban” or the “travel ban,” was retooled amid legal challenges, until a version was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.
Trump and others have defended the initial ban on national security grounds, arguing it was aimed at protecting the country and not founded on anti-Muslim bias. However, the president had called for an explicit ban on Muslims during his first campaign for the White House.
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Amiri reported from the United Nations. Associated Press writers Regina Garcia Cano, Rebecca Santana, Jon Gambrell, Ellen Knickmeyer, Omar Farouk, Nasser Karimi, Elliot Spagat, Elena Becatoros and Danica Coto contributed to this report.
