Trump’s new travel ban comes into effect as citizens of 12 countries barred from U.S.

United States President Donald Trump’s new ban on travel to the U.S. by citizens from 12 mainly African and Middle Eastern countries took effect on Monday, June 9, 2025.

The new proclamation, which Trump signed last week, applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.

It also imposes heightened restrictions on people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela who are outside the United States and don’t hold a valid visa.

The new ban does not revoke visas previously issued to people from countries on the list, according to guidance issued Friday to all U.S. diplomatic missions.

However, unless an applicant meets narrow criteria for an exemption to the ban, his or her application will be rejected starting Monday.

Travellers with previously issued visas should still be able to enter the U.S. even after the ban takes effect.

While many of the listed countries send few people to the United States, Haiti, Cuba, and Venezuela had been major sources of immigration in recent years.

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Haitian-American Elvanise Louis-Juste, who was at the airport in Newark, New Jersey, on Sunday awaiting a flight to her home state of Florida, said many Haitians wanting to come to the United States are simply seeking to escape violence and unrest.

Haitians continue to flee poverty and hunger while police and a UN-backed mission fight a surge in gang violence, with armed men controlling at least 85% of its capital, Port-au-Prince.

Many immigration experts say the new ban is designed to beat court challenges by focusing on the visa application process and appears more carefully crafted than a hastily written executive order during Trump’s first term that denied entry to citizens of mainly Muslim countries.

Trump said this time that some countries had “deficient” screening for passports and other public documents or have historically refused to take back their own citizens.

He relied extensively on an annual Homeland Security report of people who remain in the U.S. after their visas expired, AFP reported.

Trump’s proclamation cites overstay rates for eight of the 12 banned countries.

Trump also tied the new ban to a terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado, saying it underscored the dangers posed by some visitors who overstay visas.

The Star