The Trump administration on Wednesday banned people from 12 countries from entering the United States, a dramatic escalation in President Trump’s restriction on immigration.
Mr. Trump’s proclamation barred travel from a variety of countries, primarily in Africa and the Middle East. The list includes Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Mr. Trump also partially banned travel from several other countries, including Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
The decision to ban travel from those countries comes after Mr. Trump blocked asylum at the southern border and barred international students from Harvard University, and after his administration conducted raids across the United States.
Mr. Trump’s order frames the reasoning for restricting travel as necessary because of national security threats, but critics say that the order discriminates against broad swaths of people based on their ethnicity alone. In his first term, Mr. Trump barred travel from several Muslim-majority countries, including Iran.
“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, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas. We don’t want them,” Mr. Trump said in a video message Wednesday evening posted on social media.
Mr. Trump’s order comes just a few days after an Egyptian man in Colorado attacked a group honoring hostages being held in Gaza. Trump administration officials warned that they would crack down on migration in the wake of the attack.
Hamed Aleaziz covers the Department of Homeland Security and immigration policy for The Times.
The post Trump Orders Entry Ban for People From 12 Countries appeared first on New York Times.
