President Donald Trump signed a travel ban yesterday, preventing nationals from 12 countries from entering the United States and partially restricting entry from seven others. The order, which cites national security risks, is scheduled to go into effect at 12:01 am ET Monday.
The ban follows a Jan. 20 executive order (read here) requiring the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies to assess national security risks and hostile attitudes toward the US from foreign countries. The White House says countries targeted by yesterday’s ban have high visa overstay rates or fail to properly vet or share threat information on their citizens entering the US.
Countries whose foreign nationals will be banned are Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Countries with partial restrictions include Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.