President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an Executive Order barring entry to U.S. citizens and permanent residents from twelve countries—Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen—effective 12:01 a.m. EDT on June 9, 2025.
In a video statement posted on X, Trump insisted the measure was vital to thwart “foreign terrorists” and other security risks, and vowed to update the list should new threats emerge.
Visas already issued will remain valid, and citizens of seven additional countries—Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela—face partial restrictions.
This latest directive extends Trump’s aggressive immigration agenda, which in his second term has included mass deportations of suspected gang members to El Salvador and toughened curbs on foreign students.
Trump cited last Sunday’s bombing attempt in Boulder, Colorado, by a “foreign national” as justification, lamenting that “we cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely vet or screen entrants.”
In 2017, his first-term ban on seven Muslim-majority nations survived multiple court challenges and was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.
Its repeal by President Biden in 2021 was denounced by Trump as a “stain on our national conscience.” The new order underscores Trump’s enduring national-security rationale to restrict U.S. borders.
