Donald Trump Imposes Travel Ban on 12 Countries

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that imposes a full travel ban on nationals of 12 countries.

Persons from seven other countries have been handed partial travel restrictions to the United States.

The 12 countries include Afghanistan, Chad, Congo, Yemen, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Sudan, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Equatorial Guinea.

There will be heightened restrictions on people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

The order was signed Wednesday night.

Trump said the ban is in the interest of national security and cited an attack in Colorado on Sunday.

However, the order also says the secretary of state may grant exemptions on a “case-by-case” basis.

“I must act to protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people,” Trump said.

“We will not let what happened in Europe happen to America.

“Very simply, we cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen those who seek to enter the United States.

“We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm.”

Many of the countries have ongoing conflicts.

Others were on the list because their governments do not give access to criminal records, Trump noted.

The order also says some of the countries have been put on the list because of difficulties US officials have had deporting citizens from those countries back home.

The travel ban, which will come into effect on June 9, mirrors a similar order by Trump during his first term in 2017, which barred nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US.

Trump also signed an executive order suspending the entry of foreign nationals seeking to study or participate in programmes at Harvard.

The proclamation temporarily blocks US entry of non-immigrants seeking to study at the Ivy League.

The Trump administration has repeatedly accused Harvard of “radicalism”, “antisemitism” and a “persistence with” diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes.