Trump travel ban in effect, citizens from 12 nations barred from US

People protest the Muslim travel ban in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC on June 26, 2018. [AFP]

President Donald Trump's sweeping new travel ban came into effect early Monday, immediately after midnight, barring citizens from a dozen nations from entering the United States and reviving a divisive measure from his first term.

The move is expected to disrupt refugee pathways and further restrict immigration as the Trump administration expands its crackdown on illegal entries.

Many of the nations covered by the restrictions have adversarial relations with the United States, such as Iran and Afghanistan, while others face severe crises, like Haiti and Libya.

In announcing his restrictions last week, Trump said the new measure was spurred by a recent "terrorist attack" on Jews in Colorado.

The group had been protesting in solidarity with hostages held in Gaza when they were assaulted by a man the White House said had overstayed his visa.

That attack, Trump said, "underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted" or who overstay their visas.

The move bans all travel to the United States by nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, according to the White House.

Trump also imposed a partial ban on travellers from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Some temporary work visas from those countries will be allowed.

New countries could be added, Trump warned, "as threats emerge around the world."

Mehria, a 23-year-old woman from Afghanistan who applied for refugee status, said the new rules have trapped her and many other Afghans in uncertainty.

"We gave up thousands of hopes and our entire lives... on a promise from America, but today we are suffering one hell after another," she told AFP.

World Cup, Olympics, diplomats excluded

The ban will not apply to athletes competing in the 2026 World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, or in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Trump's order said.

Nor will it apply to diplomats from the targeted countries.

United Nations rights chief Volker Turk warned that "the broad and sweeping nature of the new travel ban raises concerns from the perspective of international law."

US Democratic lawmakers and elected officials blasted the ban as draconian and unconstitutional.

"I know the pain that Trump's cruel and xenophobic travel bans inflict because my family has felt it firsthand," Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari, who is Iranian-American, posted Sunday on X.

"We will fight this ban with everything we have."

Rumours of a new travel ban had circulated following the Colorado attack, with Trump's administration vowing to pursue "terrorists" living in the United States on visas.

US officials said suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national according to court documents, was in the country illegally, having overstayed a tourist visa, but that he had applied for asylum in September 2022.

Trump's new travel ban notably does not include Egypt.

His proclamation said Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and war-torn Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen lacked "competent" central authorities for processing passports and vetting.

Iran was included because it is a "state sponsor of terrorism," the order said.

For the other countries, Trump's order cited an above-average likelihood that people would overstay their visas.