Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation banning citizens from 12 countries from entering the United States. The countries affected by this ban include Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Nationals from these countries will face full restrictions on entry into the U.S., the proclamation stated.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the proclamation also imposes partial entry restrictions on nationals from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. This new immigration policy will take effect on June 9, 2025, at 12:01 am EDT (5:01 am Nigerian time). President Trump justified the ban as a necessary measure to protect the United States from ‘foreign terrorists’ and other security threats. In a video posted on X, Trump declared, “We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm.”
President Trump emphasized that the list of restricted countries could be revised, with potential additions in the future. He claimed that those facing the strictest restrictions were identified as harboring a ‘large-scale presence of terrorists.’ Trump also pointed to issues like non-cooperation on visa security, difficulties in verifying travelers’ identities, poor record-keeping of criminal histories, and high rates of visa overstays in the U.S. as reasons for the ban. “We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen those who seek to enter the United States,” Trump stated.
This directive is part of an immigration crackdown initiated by Trump at the start of his second term. He pledged to restrict people from regions like the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and other areas perceived as threats to U.S. security. An executive order issued on January 20 called for intensified security vetting of foreigners seeking admission to the U.S. to detect potential national security threats. It also tasked several cabinet members with compiling a list of countries that should face travel suspensions due to inadequate vetting and screening information.
During his first term, Trump implemented a travel ban on seven countries, a policy that sparked significant controversy before being upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018. However, the ban was repealed in 2021 by Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, who criticized it as ‘a stain on our national conscience.’
