US President Donald Trump’s order banning citizens from 12 countries from entering the United States took effect on Monday amid rising tensions over his administration’s strict anti-immigration policies.
Gatekeepers News reports that the countries affected by the ban are:
Countries Fully Restricted:
– Afghanistan
– Chad
– Eritrea
– Equatorial Guinea
– Haiti
– Iran
– Libya
– Myanmar
– Republic of the Congo
– Somalia
– Sudan
– Yemen
Countries with Heightened Restrictions:
– Burundi
– Cuba
– Laos
– Sierra Leone
– Togo
– Turkmenistan
– Venezuela
Trump justified the ban by citing national security concerns, stating that these countries harbor a “large-scale presence of terrorists,” fail to cooperate on visa security, and have inadequate identity management and information sharing.
The ban doesn’t revoke previously issued visas but its implementation at ports of entry remains unclear.
The move has sparked controversy, with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, expressing concerns about the ban’s broad nature and potential implications under international law.
This policy echoes Trump’s 2017 travel restrictions, which targeted mostly Muslim countries.
Protests erupted in Los Angeles against Trump’s immigration policies, with thousands blocking a major freeway and setting fire to cars. Law enforcement responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has requested the Trump administration to rescind the order deploying National Guard troops to the city, citing the governor’s authority.
