According to the White House, Donald Trump has signed a ban on travel to the United States from 12 countries.
The U.S. president said the list could be revised if “significant improvements” are made and other countries can also be added as “threats around the world.”
This is his second time to order a ban on travel in certain countries.
During his first term, he signed a similar order in 2017.
Which countries are affected?
Trump signed an announcement that a ban on travelling to the United States from 12 countries:
- Afghanistan
- Myanmar
- Chad
- Republic of Congo
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Haiti
- Iran
- Libya
- somalia
- Sudan
- Yemen
Nationals in seven other countries face some travel restrictions:
- Burundi
- Cuba
- Laos
- Sierra Leone
- Togo
- Turkmenistan
- Venezuela
The ban came into effect on Monday and at 12:01 (BST 05:01), a mat that avoided chaos at airports across the country, when similar measures were not notified almost eight years ago.
Why is the ban announced?
The White House said these "common sense restrictions" would "protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors."
Trump said in a video posted on his Truth Social Network that the recent alleged terrorist attacks in Boulder “emphasized the extreme dangers posed by foreign nationals who have not been “properly censored.”
12 people were injured in Colorado Sunday when a man attacked a group of people to support Israeli hostages, threw two burning devices and used a makeshift flamethrower.
The man accused of conducting the attack was identified as an Egyptian national.
What is the response to the ban?
Trump's latest order is expected to face legal challenges and has received a quick response at home and abroad.
Somalia has pledged to work with the United States to resolve any security issues.
Somalia's ambassador to the United States Dahir Hassan Abdi said in a statement that his country "values long-term relations with the United States."
"In the United States, not only Venezuelans are huge risks."
Democrats quickly condemned the move.
"This ban is expanded from Trump's Muslim ban during his first term and will only further isolate us on the world stage," Pramila Jayapal, a Democratic Congressman from Washington, said in a social media post.
Another Democrat, Congressman Don Beyer, said Trump “betrayed” the ideals of the founder of the United States.
What happened last time?
Trump ordered the initial travel ban in his first semester at the White House in 2017.
It is the same as his latest orders, including Iran, Libya and Somalia.
Critics called it a “Muslim ban” because the seven countries listed initially were Muslim majority.
The White House revised the policy, eventually adding two non-Muslim majority countries, North Korea and Venezuela.
The Supreme Court upheld it in 2018.
President Joe Biden, who inherited Trump, repealed the ban in 2021, calling it a "stainment of our nation's conscience."