Donald Trump's Travel Ban Takes Effect Today: Citizens From 12 Countries Affected - All You Need To Know

(MENAFN- Live Mint) United States President Donald Trump's new travel bank on citizens of 12 countries, has come into effect today (June 9), AFP reported, noting that those impacted especially include refugees and immigrants.

What is Donald Trump's reason for the travel ban?

On the list of countries in the divisive travel ban include Afghanistan, Iran, Haiti, and Libya - either those facing severe crisis or with“adversarial relations” against the US, the report added.

Donald Trump announced the move last week, after a crowd of Jewish protestors in Colarado were attacked by a man that White House claims had overstayed his visa.

According to the US president, the attack“underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted” or who overstay their visas.

What is the scope of Donald Trump's travel ban?

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

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

New countries could be added, Trump warned, "as threats emerge around the world."

Mehria, a 23-year-old woman from Afghanistan who applied for refugee status, said the new rules have trapped her and many other Afghans in uncertainty.

"We gave up thousands of hopes and our entire lives... on a promise from America, but today we are suffering one hell after another," she told AFP.

Are there any exceptions to Donald Trump's US travel ban?

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

Nor will it apply to diplomats from the targeted countries.

United Nations rights chief Volker Turk warned that "the broad and sweeping nature of the new travel ban raises concerns from the perspective of international law."

US Democratic lawmakers and elected officials blasted the ban as draconian and unconstitutional.

"I know the pain that Trump's cruel and xenophobic travel bans inflict because my family has felt it firsthand," congresswoman Yassamin Ansari, who is Iranian-American, posted Sunday on X.

"We will fight this ban with everything we have."

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

US officials said suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national according to court documents, was in the country illegally having overstayed a tourist visa, but that he had applied for asylum in September 2022.

Trump's new travel ban notably does not include Egypt.

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

Iran was included because it is a "state sponsor of terrorism," the order said.

For the other countries, Trump's order cited an above-average likelihood that people would overstay their visas.

(With inputs from AFP)

MENAFN09062025007365015876ID1109650185