President Donald Trump’s travel ban took effect on Monday, barring immigrants from 12 countries due to concerns over a lack of vetting.
Trump signed the proclamation on June 4, fully banning from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. The ban applies to immigrant and non-immigrant visas such as those for tourism, study, and work. Other countries such as Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela—face partial restrictions, limiting entry for certain visa types.
President Trump's travel ban took effect today. pic.twitter.com/V33wMoWems
— Alexander Duncan (@AlexDuncanTX) June 9, 2025
During an appearance on “Fox and Friends,” border czar Tom Homan explained the reason for the ban, noting that the countries being affected “do not do proper vetting before they issue visas.”
“This is about protecting American,” Homan said. We spent four years, got over two million known gotaways. How many of them came from a country that sponsors terrorism? We don't know.”
The border czar further explained that the Trump administration “is taking every step possible to protect this nation from a terrorist attack and from other criminal activity that crosses our border and comes in through the visa program.”
“This is about protecting America”: @RealTomHoman says countries on the travel ban do not properly vet for security risks pic.twitter.com/sM8vPZjryn
— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) June 9, 2025
The travel ban came after the terrorist attack against Israel supporters in Boulder, Colorado that injured 12 people. When announcing the ban, President Trump said the attack “underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas.”
The suspect accused of the attack is an Egyptian national who overstayed his visa. “We don't want them. In the 21st century, we've seen one terror attack after another carried out by foreign visa overstayers from dangerous places all over the world. And thanks to Biden's open door, policies. Today, there are millions and millions of these illegals who should not be in our country,” Trump said.
“We will not let what happened in Europe happen to America,” the president declared. “That's why on my first day back in office, I directed the Secretary of State to perform a security review view of high-risk regions and make recommendations for where restrictions should be imposed.
BREAKING: President Trump releases video statement following his decision to ban entry into the United States from 12 countries.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 5, 2025
Seven other countries have partial restrictions.
The 12 countries with full travel restrictions are: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the… pic.twitter.com/LywxQ7XPzi
The ban does include exceptions for lawful permanent residents, dual nationals not traveling on passports from affected countries, and groups like athletes and their teams traveling for major events such as the 2026 World Cup or 2028 Olympics.