Trump’s Newest Xenophobic Travel Ban

On June 4, 2025, President Trump issued a Proclamation predicated on xenophobia that shuts off the ability of people from nineteen different countries to travel to the United States. In this hateful document, the President relies on the same unsubstantiated legal justifications he used to issue the Muslim and African Bans during his first administration, this time targeting a sweeping list of countries that all have one thing in common: their citizens are largely Black or Brown. 

Here is what you need to know:

What does the Ban do? 

President Trump’s newest ban prohibits people from 19 different countries from traveling to the United States. For 12 of these countries, travel is prohibited on any type of visa including family-based visas and tourist, business and student visas; and for 7, it is restricted for nearly all visa categories with a few narrow exceptions. The ban does not apply to green card holders or to people who were already granted a visa to travel to the United States as of June 9, 2025. The Proclamation announcing the ban states clearly that visas issued before June 9, 2025 are not to be revoked because of the new ban. 

The ban will be racist in its application – separating families in Black and Brown communities across the globe. U.S. citizens and green card holders will be left unable to reunite with their families and loved ones – stranded across oceans. People needing to travel to the United States to visit a dying loved one or attend a critical business conference will have no option to do so. 

What countries does the Proclamation apply to? 

The Proclamation applies to 19 countries. 

It bans people traveling on any type of visa – including visas that lead to permanent lawful status (known as “immigrant visas”) as well as temporary visas such as those for work or tourism (known as “non-immigrant visas”) – from 12 countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.  

It bans people traveling on immigrant visas or certain temporary visas including tourism and business travel visas, student visas, and exchange visitor visas from 7 countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

When does the ban go into effect? 

The Proclamation goes into effect on June 9, 2025 and applies only to people outside the United States as of June 9, 2025 who do not have a visa as of that date. 

Who does the ban apply to? 

The ban applies to people from the listed countries (see above) who were outside the United States as of June 9, 2025 and are seeking to come to the United States on a visa but did not yet have that visa as of June 9, 2025. 

As described above, the ban applies to people traveling on any type of visa for twelve countries; and to people traveling on immigrant and certain non-immigrant visas for seven others. 

Who does the ban not apply to? 

The Proclamation explicitly states that no visas issued before June 9, 2025 will be revoked on the basis of the ban.

The Proclamation also lists the following categories of people who are exempted from the Proclamation. In other words, these categories of people are not banned from traveling to the United States under the proclamation: 

• People who were already granted a visa as of June 9, 2025 
• Green card holders (lawful permanent residents)
• People in the United States already granted asylum, refugee status, and people granted a temporary form of protection called withholding of removal or protection under the Convention Against Torture 
• People with dual citizenship who are traveling on the passport of a country not listed in the Proclamation 
• People traveling on certain diplomatic visas 
• Athletes and coaches traveling for the World Cup, Olympics or other major sporting events 
• People traveling to the United States to get a green card as the spouse, unmarried child under the age of 21, or parent of an adult over the age of 21 who is a U.S. citizen 
• Certain children traveling to the United States for the purpose of being adopted 
• People from Afghanistan traveling on special visas issued to people determined to have worked on behalf of the U.S. government 
• People traveling on immigrant visas for ethnic and religious minorities facing persecution in Iran 

The Proclamation also gives the Attorney General and the Secretary of State the authority to grant people case-by-base exemptions from the ban if they determine that person’s travel would serve the United States’ interest. 

Can countries ever get off the list? 

The Proclamation requires the Secretary of State to work with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence to create a process to assess whether suspensions and limitations should be continued, terminated, modified, or supplemented for specific countries. The first period of reconsideration is within 90 days of June 9, 2025, and every 180 days after that. 

What about people fleeing violence and harm to seek asylum in the United States? 

Many of the countries included on this list are in the midst of violence and instability. The Proclamation states that none of the included provisions may be used to limit a person’s ability to seek asylum, refugee status, or protection under the Convention Against Torture in the United States. However, given the sweeping nature of the ban and the chaos it is certain to ensue, there is little doubt that many people will be cut off from the ability to seek safety in the United States because of this hateful proclamation. 

What is the government’s purported legal justification for the ban? 

The President attempts to justify this sweeping, racist ban by invoking two sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act (sections 212(f) and 215(a)). These provisions provide the executive branch with the authority to suspend or restrict certain entries to the United States and were used by the first Trump administration to enact their Muslim and African bans, the last version of which was upheld by the Supreme Court. They had never before the Trump administration been used in such a sweeping manner.