President Donald Trump signed a proclamation restricting immigration from nearly 20 countries deemed high-risk due to terrorism ties and visa overstays.
The details: Trump’s proclamation includes 19 countries—twelve with a full ban and seven with partial bans.
- Full ban: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen
- Partial ban: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela
Why? When Trump returned to office in January, he issued Executive Order 14161, which ordered U.S. agencies to assess security risks from high-risk nations. They found that the 19 banned countries have:
- large-scale presence of terrorists
- high rates of visa overstays
- an inability to verify identities
- poor record-keeping of criminal histories
Some exemptions: The order carves out some exemptions for green card holders, existing visa holders, and national interest cases.
Zoom out: In a video message announcing the travel ban, Trump cited the recent terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado, by an illegal alien who overstayed his visa in 2023.
Real talk from G: Trump also said, “We will not let what happened in Europe happen in America.” What happened in Europe? Mass, unvetted migration from the Middle East and Africa has led to daily occurrences of stabbings, vehicular homicide, and rape by foreigners.