Trump slaps new travel ban on 12 countries

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump signed a new travel ban that comes into effect on Monday targeting 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran and Yemen, reviving one of the most controversial measures from his first term.

Trump said on Wednesday the measure was spurred by a makeshift flamethrower attack on a Jewish protest in Colorado that US authorities blamed on a man they said was in the country illegally.

The move bans all travel to the United States by nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, according to the White House.

Trump also imposed a partial ban on travelers from seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Some temporary work visas from those countries will be allowed.

“The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted,” Trump said in a video message from the Oval Office posted on social media platform X.

“We don’t want them.”

World Cup, Olympics excluded

However, the ban will not apply to athletes competing in the 2026 World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, as well as the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Trump’s order said.

Trump announced separately on Wednesday a ban on visas for foreign students who are set to begin attending Harvard University, ramping up his crackdown on what he regards as a bastion of liberalism.

The US leader compared the new measures to the ban he imposed on a number of mainly Muslim countries in his first term, which caused travel chaos across the world.

Trump said that 2017 ban had stopped the United States from suffering terror attacks that happened in Europe.

“We will not let what happened in Europe happen in America,” Trump said.

“We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen.”

Venezuela hit back by warning that the United States itself was a dangerous destination.

“Being in the United States is a great risk for anyone, not just for Venezuelans,” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said after the announcement, warning Venezuelan citizens against travel there.

Amnesty International USA condemned Trump’s new travel ban in a post on X, calling it “discriminatory, racist, and downright cruel.”

It said that “by targeting people based on their nationality, this ban only spreads disinformation and hate.”

The ban could face legal challenges, as have many of the drastic measures Trump has taken since his whirlwind return to office in January.

Rumors of a new Trump travel ban had circulated following the attack in Colorado, with his administration vowing to pursue “terrorists” living in the United States on visas.

Suspect Mohammed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national according to court documents, is alleged to have thrown firebombs and sprayed burning gasoline at a group of people who had gathered on Sunday in support of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

US Homeland Security officials said Soliman was in the country illegally, having overstayed a tourist visa, but that he had applied for asylum in September 2022.

Egypt was notably not on the list of countries facing travel restrictions.

The proclamation said Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and war-torn Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen lacked “competent” central authorities for processing passports and vetting.

Iran, with which the United States is in negotiations on a possible nuclear deal, was included because it is a “state sponsor of terrorism,” the order said.