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A new travel ban signed by President Donald Trump took effect Monday, restricting entry into the United States for citizens of 12 countries, along with tighter restrictions on several others, marking an expansion of the administration’s immigration enforcement campaign.
The new proclamation bars most new visa applications from individuals in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Additional restrictions also apply to applicants from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela, unless they already hold valid visas.
According to requirements distributed to U.S. embassies and consulates on Friday, previously issued visas remain valid. However, most new applicants from the targeted countries will be denied entry unless they qualify under narrow exemption criteria.
Unlike Trump’s initial travel ban in 2017, which targeted several majority-Muslim countries and led to problems at airports nationwide, the rollout of this latest policy appeared more organized. No major disruptions were reported Monday at major airports involving international travelers.
The new directive appears more legally refined, focusing on the visa application process to better withstand judicial scrutiny. Immigration experts noted that the structure of the ban likely reflects lessons learned from prior legal battles, which forced revisions to Trump’s earlier executive orders.
Trump defended the proclamation by citing security concerns, arguing that many of the affected countries had inadequate systems for verifying passports and public records or had refused to accept the return of their nationals. He emphasized data from a Department of Homeland Security report on visa overstays, citing overstay rates for eight of the 12 newly banned countries.
While the practice of measuring visa overstays has long presented challenges, the federal government has attempted annual reporting since 2016. The Trump administration used that data as a foundation for the new restrictions.
The president also linked the new travel ban to a recent terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado, saying it highlighted the potential threat posed by individuals who overstay their visas. Officials said the suspect in that case, who overstayed a tourist visa, is from Egypt—a country not included in the current travel restrictions.