President Donald Trump has reinstated a sweeping travel ban targeting citizens from 12 countries, effective June 9, 2025, according to a proclamation signed on June 4. The countries under full travel prohibition are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Additionally, nationals from seven other countries—Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela—face partial travel restrictions.
The White House cited the need to protect the United States from “foreign terrorists” and other security threats, noting these countries’ poor cooperation on visa-related security measures and inadequate systems for verifying travelers’ identities. Trump emphasized, “I act to protect the national security of the United States and its people.”
Exemptions include lawful permanent residents, certain visa holders, athletes participating in international sporting events, and dual nationals from unaffected countries. This proclamation echoes Trump’s earlier travel bans during his first term, which were controversial and eventually overturned by the Biden administration in 2021.
The administration also pointed to issues such as high visa overstay rates and insufficient criminal history records in the affected countries as justification for the new restrictions. This move follows an executive order signed earlier this year to tighten security vetting for foreign nationals entering the U.S.