Afghanistan, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Burma, Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen face total bans.
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Wednesday that suspends nationals from 12 countries from entering the United States, and it also restricts people from seven other countries from entering.
Unlike an executive order, a proclamation issued by the president isn’t legally binding but generally signals a shift in official federal government policy. It will go into effect on Monday, June 9, at 12:01 a.m. ET.
What Countries Are Listed in the Ban?
The 12 countries that face total bans under the proclamation include Afghanistan, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Burma (also known as Myanmar), Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
Under the directive, people from those countries cannot travel to the United States for immigrant or nonimmigrant reasons.
And seven countries that the president partially restricted travel from include Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
Trump suspended the entry of individuals from those seven countries “as immigrants, and as nonimmigrants,” on B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, F, M, and J visas, according to the directive. He also told consular officers to “reduce the validity for any other nonimmigrant visa issued to nationals” of those countries “to the extent permitted by law.”
The directive notes that the people impacted under the ban have to be outside the United States on the effective date of the proclamation and do not have a valid visa on the effective date of this proclamation.
Why Were They Chosen?
The presidential proclamation cites national security and public safety issues, such as terrorism from the 12 banned nations.
“It is the policy of the United States to protect its citizens from terrorist attacks and other national security or public-safety threats,” Trump’s order reads. “Screening and vetting protocols and procedures associated with visa adjudications and other immigration processes play a critical role in implementing that policy.”
For Afghanistan, Trump noted that the Taliban terrorist organization controls the country and doesn’t have the proper vetting measures when issuing passports and other documents.
As for Iran, the directive said that the country’s regime is “a state sponsor of terrorism” and often doesn’t cooperate with the United States on dealing with security matters and has “failed to accept back its removable nationals.”
Somalia also faces similar issues related to terrorism and a lack of an appropriate central government that can vet its nationals, the administration said. But it further stipulated that Somalia has long been considered a haven for terrorist groups.
The directive notes that a significant number of illegal immigrants who originated from Haiti, considered the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, entered the United States during the previous administration.
“This influx harms American communities by creating acute risks of increased overstay rates, establishment of criminal networks, and other national security threats,” the proclamation reads.
But for a number of other countries, Trump noted that their respective governments had refused to cooperate with the United States to accept individuals who were deported, while the proclamation suggests some of their nationals had higher-than-normal visa overstay rates.
For example, according to the White House, Chad had visa overstay rates of 37 percent, 49 percent, and 55 percent, depending on the type of visa, in 2022 and 2023.
“The high visa overstay rate for 2022 and 2023 is unacceptable and indicates a blatant disregard for United States immigration laws,” the directive said.
