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U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing a full travel ban on citizens from 12 countries, while also enacting heightened restrictions on travelers from seven additional nations.

Citing national security concerns, Trump stated that the measures were necessary to protect the United States from what he described as “extreme dangers” associated with unvetted foreign nationals.

The executive order, which was formally issued on Wednesday, will take effect on June 9. It does not retroactively cancel visas already issued before that date. “I must act to protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people,” Trump declared in the order.

Countries affected

The 12 countries subject to a full travel ban include Afghanistan, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen

In addition, travelers from seven other countries will face “heightened restrictions.” These countries include Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

The administration has not yet provided specific details about the nature of the restrictions for these countries, but emphasized that the new protocols would significantly tighten screening and vetting procedures.

"We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen… That is why today I am signing a new executive order placing travel restrictions on countries including Yemen, Somalia, Haiti, Libya, and numerous others." –President Trump pic.twitter.com/ER7nGM4TO2

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 4, 2025

Boulder attack and national security

Trump defended the move in a video message, pointing to what he described as recent security lapses and an ongoing failure to properly vet foreign nationals entering the country.

“The recent attack on a pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado, had underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted,” Trump said.

The Boulder attack of June 1, 2025, is still under investigation, and authorities have not released the nationalities or affiliations of the perpetrators. However, Trump appeared to link the incident to broader immigration issues, warning of parallels with terrorist incidents in Europe.

“We will not let what happened in Europe happen to America,” he added. “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.”

In the same statement, Trump claimed there were “millions and millions of these illegals who should not be in our country.”

International backlash

The executive order has already provoked strong reactions abroad. The African Union Commission issued a statement on Thursday criticizing the policy and warning of potential diplomatic and economic consequences.

“The African Union Commission respectfully calls upon the U.S. administration to consider adopting a more consultative approach and to engage in constructive dialogue with the countries concerned,” the statement read.

Statement of the African Union Commission on US Travel ban.

The African Union Commission has taken note of the recent proclamation by the Government of the United States imposing new travel restrictions affecting nationals from several countries, including some on the African… pic.twitter.com/j8ibWSSlNa

— African Union (@_AfricanUnion) June 5, 2025

The move also threatens to undermine academic, business, and cultural exchanges between the U.S. and affected nations, many of which have sent thousands of students, researchers, and professionals to the United States.

Echoes of the 2017 “Muslim Ban”

This is not the first time President Trump has introduced a travel ban. During his first term in 2017, his administration issued a highly controversial executive order barring travel from seven majority-Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. That order, widely criticized as a “Muslim Ban,” led to chaos at airports and sparked massive protests.

After a series of legal battles, a revised version of the ban was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018. That version included restrictions on travelers from Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Syria, and Libya, as well as North Korean officials and certain Venezuelan government figures.

Trump insisted then, as now, that the bans were driven by security concerns and not religious discrimination, despite his earlier campaign calls for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”

Crackdown on Harvard University

Alongside the travel ban, President Trump signed a separate executive order targeting Harvard University, accusing the prestigious institution of harboring “a history of concerning foreign ties and radicalism.”

The new directive suspends the entry of foreign nationals seeking to study or participate in programs at Harvard. Furthermore, it instructs the U.S. State Department to “consider revoking” the academic or exchange visas of existing students if they fall under the order’s criteria.

Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard. https://t.co/V8uvTNaL64

— Harvard University (@Harvard) May 23, 2025

This follows a month-long internal State Department directive ordering U.S. consulates worldwide to conduct intensified background checks on any applicant seeking entry into Harvard for academic purposes. The White House has also pursued a multi-pronged campaign against the university, including:

• Freezing billions of dollars in grants and public funding.
• Moving to end its tax-exempt status.
• Launching investigations into alleged discrimination against white, Asian, male, or straight faculty and staff.

Harvard has accused the U.S. administration of retaliating against it for refusing to accede to Trump’s demands to control the school’s governance, curriculum, and the ideology of its faculty and students.

Last month, the administration also attempted to revoke Harvard’s right to enroll international students. Though a federal court in Boston blocked that effort, the latest executive order relies on different legal authorities that may be harder to challenge.

Political and legal fallout expected

Legal experts and civil rights advocates are already preparing to challenge both executive orders in federal court. Critics argue the travel bans are a repackaging of Trump’s earlier attempts to implement ethnically and religiously targeted immigration policies under the guise of national security.

Civil liberties organizations have also expressed concern about the precedent these orders could set for academic freedom and international educational cooperation. Immigration lawyers anticipate a wave of confusion, visa denials, and potential detentions in the coming weeks as consulates begin implementing the orders.

Despite the looming backlash, Trump appears undeterred.“We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm,” he repeated in the closing lines of his video address. “This is about keeping America safe.”