U.S. travel restrictions officially in effect for 19 countries

The Associated Press

· Posted: Jun 09, 2025 8:01 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

President Donald Trump's caller prohibition connected question to the U.S. by citizens from 12 chiefly African and Middle Eastern countries took effect Monday amid rising hostility implicit the president's escalating run of migration enforcement.

The caller proclamation, which Trump signed past week, applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It besides imposes heightened restrictions connected radical from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela who are extracurricular the U.S. and don't clasp a valid visa.

In total, conscionable nether 162,000 migrant visas and impermanent work, study, and question visas were issued successful fiscal twelvemonth 2023 to nationals of the affected countries successful the present banned visa categories, according to the Migration Policy Institute. The prohibition includes exemptions, specified arsenic for dual nationals, imperishable residents, migrant visas for contiguous household members of citizens and athletes traveling for large sporting events similar adjacent year's World Cup, erstwhile the U.S. hosts astir 75 per cent of tourney games.

The caller prohibition does not revoke visas antecedently issued to radical from countries connected the list, according to guidance issued Friday to each U.S. diplomatic missions. However, unless an applicant meets constrictive criteria for an exemption to the ban, his oregon her exertion volition beryllium rejected starting Monday.  

During Trump's archetypal term, a hastily written enforcement bid ordering the denial of introduction to citizens of chiefly Muslim countries created chaos astatine galore airports and different ports of entry, prompting palmy ineligible challenges and large revisions to the policy.

No specified disruption was instantly discernible astatine Los Angeles International Airport successful the hours aft the caller prohibition took effect.

Ban criticized by migrant advocates

While the U.S. does person a important contented with unauthorized persons wrong its borders, estimated astatine betwixt 11 cardinal and 12 cardinal radical by assorted migration think-tanks, the prohibition was rapidly denounced by groups that supply assistance and resettlement assistance to refugees.

"This argumentation is not astir nationalist information — it is astir sowing part and vilifying communities that are seeking information and accidental successful the United States," said Abby Maxman, president of Oxfam America, a nonprofit planetary alleviation organization.

The inclusion of Afghanistan angered immoderate supporters who person worked to resettle its people. The prohibition does marque exceptions for Afghans connected Special Immigrant Visas, mostly radical who worked astir intimately with the U.S. authorities during the two-decade-long warfare there.

WATCH l Trump reprises question bans: 

Afghanistan had been 1 of the largest sources of resettled refugees, with astir 14,000 arrivals successful a 12-month play done September 2024. Trump suspended exile resettlement from the state connected his archetypal time successful office.

While astir of the countries connected the database are connected the different broadside of the world, the Caribbean federation of Haiti is an exception. The state is presently wracked by immoderate of its astir important pack unit ever, with UN officials saying past week a nutrient situation exists for galore of the island's inhabitants. 

Haitian-American Elvanise Louis-Juste, who was astatine the airdrome earlier Sunday successful Newark, N.J., awaiting a formation to her location authorities of Florida, said galore Haitians wanting to travel to the U.S. are simply seeking to flight unit and unrest.

"I person household successful Haiti, truthful it's beauteous upsetting to spot and hear," Louis-Juste, 23, said of the question ban. "I don't deliberation it's a bully thing. I deliberation it's precise upsetting."

Many migration experts accidental the caller prohibition is much cautiously crafted and appears designed to bushed tribunal challenges that hampered the archetypal by focusing connected the visa exertion process.

Trump said this clip that immoderate countries had "deficient" screening for passports and different nationalist documents oregon person historically refused to instrumentality backmost their ain citizens. He relied extensively connected an yearly Homeland Security study of radical who stay successful the U.S. aft their visas expired.

Measuring overstay rates has challenged experts for decades, but the authorities has made a constricted effort annually since 2016. Trump's proclamation cites overstay rates for 8 of the 12 banned countries.

Trump besides tied the caller prohibition to an onslaught successful Boulder, Colo., saying it underscored the dangers posed by immoderate visitors who overstay visas. U.S. officials accidental the antheral charged successful the onslaught overstayed a tourer visa. He is from Egypt, a state that is not connected Trump's restricted list.

"Egypt has been a state that we woody with precise closely. They person things nether control," Trump said past week. "The countries that we person don't person things nether control."