President Trump Reinstates Strict Travel Ban on Citizens from Twelve Countries
President Trump reinstated a travel ban on citizens from 12 countries in order to “protect both the national security and national interest of the United States and its people.” The ban will go into effect Monday.
The ban, which was also applied in the prior administration of President Trump, comes in the aftermath of a terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado where a group marching on behalf of Israeli hostages were attacked with molotov cocktails.
The proclamation specifically “restricts and limits the entry of nationals from 12 countries found to be deficient with regards to screening and vetting and determined to pose a very high risk to the United States: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.”
Trump also addressed his current approach to dealing with the countries banned
“I remain committed to engaging with those countries willing to cooperate to improve information-sharing and identity-management procedures, and to address both terrorism-related and public-safety risks,” Trump said.
More countries will also face citizen travel restrictions when coming to the US, though not to the same degree as with those the 12 listed in the ban. According to Reuters, “The entry of people from seven other countries – Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela – will be partially restricted.”
In his proclamation, Trump defended the record of the ban in his previous administration. “During my first Administration, I restricted the entry of foreign nationals into the United States, which successfully prevented national security threats from reaching our borders and which the Supreme Court upheld,” Trump said.
TPUSA Frontlines Reporter Monica Paige covered the travel ban and elaborated on specific details behind it. The Department of Homeland Security reports that 314,000 individuals are overstaying their visas. Afghanistan is at the top of the list of banned countries, with an overstay rate of 39%.
