Trump bars citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen from entering US

US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation yesterday banning the citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States, saying the move was needed to protect against “foreign terrorists” and other security threats, Reuters reports.

The directive is part of an immigration crackdown Trump launched this year at the start of his second term, which has also included the deportation to El Salvador of hundreds of Venezuelans, as well as efforts to deny enrollments of some foreign students and deport others.

The countries affected by the latest travel ban are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

The entry of people from seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela, will be partially restricted.

“We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm,” Trump said in a video posted on X. He said the list could be revised and new countries could be added.

The proclamation is effective on 9 June. Visas issued before that date will not be revoked, the order said.

During his first term in office, Trump announced a ban on travellers from seven Muslim-majority nations, a policy that went through several iterations before it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.

Former President Joe Biden, a Democrat who succeeded Trump, repealed that ban on nationals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen in 2021, calling it “a stain on our national conscience.”

Trump said the countries subject to the most severe restrictions were determined to harbour a “large-scale presence of terrorists,” fail to cooperate on visa security and have an inability to verify travellers’ identities, inadequate record-keeping of criminal histories and high rates of visa overstays in the United States.

“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 said.

Somalia immediately pledged to work with the US to address security issues.

“Somalia values its longstanding relationship with the United States and stands ready to engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised,” Dahir Hassan Abdi, the Somali ambassador to the United States, said in a statement.