US President Donald Trump signed a new travel ban Wednesday targeting 12 countries including Afghanistan, Iran and Yemen, reviving one of the most controversial measures from his first term.
Trump said the measure was spurred by a makeshift flamethrower attack on a Jewish protest in Colorado that US authorities blamed on an man they said was in the country illegally.
The move bans all travel to the United States by nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Trump also imposed a partial ban on travelers from seven countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Some temporary work visas from these countries will be allowed.
The bans go into effect on Monday, the White House said.
“The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted,” Trump said in a video message from the Oval Office posted on X. “We don’t want them.”
The ban will however not apply to athletes competing in the 2026 World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, as well as the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Trump’s order said.
Trump separately on Wednesday announced a ban on visas for foreign students who are set to begin attending Harvard University, ramping up his crackdown on what he regards as a bastion of liberalism.
The US leader compared the new measures to the “powerful” ban he imposed on a number of mainly Muslim countries in his first term, which caused travel disruption across the world.
Trump said that 2017 ban had stopped the United States from suffering terror attacks that happened in Europe.
“We will not let what happened in Europe happen in America,” Trump said.
“We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen.”
Venezuela hit back by warning that the United States itself was a dangerous destination.