Latest news with #MuslimBan
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Editorial: Trump's cruel new travel ban — Again, he seeks to block all visits from a handful of countries
Starting today, the Trump administration will impose a long-expected revamp of the cruel policy that made it very clear during the early days of his first term that the president was not bluffing on his desire to indiscriminately target entire classes of immigrants in his promised crackdown: the travel ban. This time, President Donald Trump has singled out Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen for full bans, with seven others restricted. While the authority that Trump is leaning on does exist in the law and has been used by prior presidents, these uses were things like barring entry of people engaged in 'actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, or stability of Burundi.' It was not until Trump and Stephen Miller that a president even attempted to expand this law to claim that entire countries are somehow detrimental to U.S. interests or inherently dangerous. It was a weak enough argument that, during his first term, Trump's first two iterations of what is now known as the Muslim Ban were struck down, only for the Supreme Court to allow a third after the administration threw in Venezuela and North Korea to claim that it was not motivated by any racial or religious animus. This was a procedural trick and everyone knew it; there was no basis for this move other than wanting to keep certain people out of the country. No one has to nor should pretend that the old ban nor this one have anything to do with protecting the United States, just the same Miller's zeal for ICE arrests does not, by his own recent admission, have anything to do with clamping down on criminality but rather taking as many people into custody as possible, for the simple fact that they are immigrants. We would challenge Miller and the other officials rolling out the travel ban to explain why, for example, an ailing Haitian grandmother who wishes to come to the United States to receive our world-class cancer treatment should be presumptively barred from doing so. Yet, we don't really think that they have any real interest in explaining the logic because whatever logic is secondary to the overarching objective of barring some kinds of people from the United States. The administration will claim, as it did during the first term, that there are reasonable carve-outs to these orders, but we can't say we really trust them to apply these standards cogently or fairly. After all, they've already made something of a habit of arbitrary violations of law, as demonstrated by D.C. Federal Judge James Boasberg's recent ruling that the entirety of the administration's Alien Enemies Act removals of Venezuelan nationals to the CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador were unlawful, and that the administration should prepare to bring those individuals back to the United States. Shame on the high court for validating this overreach in the president's power to regulate immigration, which serves no purpose than throwing red meat to the base and collectively punishing innocent people from whole countries based on vague national security concerns or, to be more accurate and specific about it, their ethnic and religious background, in violation of our principles as a nation. _____
The Guardian
06-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trump's new travel ban is a gratuitously cruel sequel
I'm not much for horror movies, but I have just read that the film Black Phone 2 'will creep into cinemas' in October and that, compared to the original, it's supposed to be a 'more violent, scarier, more graphic' film. I'll pass on the movie, but that description seems pretty apt to what living under this Trump administration feels like: a gratuitously more violent sequel to a ghoulish original. Consider the Muslim ban. Back in late 2015, candidate Donald Trump called for 'a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on'. He signed the first version of the Muslim ban on 27 January 2017, and protests erupted at airports across the nation at the revival of a national policy, similar to the Chinese Exclusion Act, that bars entry of whole swaths of people based on our national prejudices. It took the Trump administration three attempts at crafting this policy before the supreme court tragically greenlit it. While Joe Biden later reversed the policy, congressional moves to restrict the president's ability to institute these blanket bans – such as the No Ban Act – have not succeeded. And on the first day of his second term, Trump indicated he was prepared to institute a wider-reaching travel ban. He has now done just that. The new executive order will 'fully restrict and limit the entry [to the US] of nationals of the following 12 countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen' and will also 'partially restrict and limit the entry of nationals of the following 7 countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela'. Yes, there are key cutouts in the latest travel ban that make it a different animal from the original 2017 ban, but it still derives from the same family. Green-card holders, those with valid visas issued before the executive order was proclaimed, and professional athletes representing their countries in the forthcoming World Cup, for example, are exempt, illustrating how the administration has learned to write more litigation-resistant immigration exclusion orders. But make no mistake. Such a policy is alienating, counterproductive and simply racist. For one thing, Trump claims that the ban is necessary because the selected countries exhibit either 'a significant terrorist presence', a lack of cooperation in accepting back their nationals, or high rates of visa overstays. According to the Entry/Exit Overstay Report for fiscal year 2023 (the last one available), the number of people from Equatorial Guinea, a small African country, who overstayed their B1/B2 visas (travel to the US for business or pleasure) was 200. From the United Kingdom, it was 15,712. It's true that the percentage (as opposed to the number) of people overstaying their visas from Equatorial Guinea is significantly higher than UK overstays. But Djibouti, which hosts the primary US military base in for operations in Africa, has an even higher percentage of B1/B2 visa overstayers than Equatorial Guinea – yet it isn't part of the ban, illustrating how much it is based on narrow political calculations and cheap theatrics. The capriciousness of the policy was immediately evident after Trump released a video explaining his decision. 'The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, has underscored the extreme dangers posed for our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstayed their visas,' he said, adding: 'We don't want them.' Yet, as everyone knows, the suspect in the Boulder, Colorado, attack is an Egyptian national, another key US ally. And Egypt is not on the list. Nor should it be, because these lists of banned countries collapse individuals into vague categories of suspicion and malfeasance. Why should the actions of one person from any given country mark a completely different person as inadmissible? Trump may sound tough to his supporters when announcing the ban, but such broad-brush applications against basically all the nationals of comparatively powerless countries is hardly the flex that Trump thinks it is. In the eyes of the rest of the world, the new policy mostly makes the administration look like a bully, picking on a handful of Muslim-majority countries, a few African and Asian states, a couple of its traditional enemies, and Haiti. Meanwhile, the rest of the world also sees how the Trump administration has withdrawn temporary protections from more than 500,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela and Nicaragua, suspended refugee resettlement from around the world, and yet welcomed in dozens of white Afrikaners from South Africa to the United States as refugees. The ethnocentrism of the policy is as naked as it is opportunistic. The truth is that the damage from Trump's first-term Muslim ban was long-lasting and had all kinds of collateral impact, including on the mental health of family members living in the United States. And immigrant advocacy organizations are already sharply criticizing this latest version. AfghanEvac, a non-profit organization that facilitates the resettlement of Afghans who worked with American troops, stated that the new ban 'is not about national security – it is about political theater'. To include Afghanistan among the banned countries, even as thousands of Afghans worked alongside American forces, is to Shawn VanDiver, the group's founder and president, 'a moral disgrace. It spits in the face of our allies, our veterans, and every value we claim to uphold.' Trump's latest travel ban, his ramped-up immigration deportation regime, his international student crackdown, and his all but ending asylum in the United States add up to a clearly a concerted attempt to stave off the inevitable while vilifying the marginal. Demographers have been telling us for years now that the US will be a 'majority minority' country around 2045, a prospect that has long frightened many of the white conservatives who make up Trump's base. In response, Trump is pursuing a policy that draws on the most basic kind of nativism around, and one we've seen before in the United States. The 1924 Immigration Act severely restricted immigration to the US to keep America as white and as western European as possible. Only in 1965 were the laws finally changed, with the national immigration quotas lifted, laying the foundation for the multicultural society we have today. That earlier movie of epic exclusion lasted some 41 years. So far, this sequel is violent, scary and authoritarian. It had better be a short film. Moustafa Bayoumi is a Guardian US columnist
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Somalia among 12 countries included in new Trump travel ban
Somalia among 12 countries included in new Trump travel ban originally appeared on Bring Me The News. Somalia is among the 12 countries subject to the latest travel ban imposed by President Donald Trump. The president has announced that from Monday, visitors from a dozen countries will not be permitted to enter the U.S., with Somalia joined by Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Sudan and Yemen. It follows a similar measure enacted by Trump in 2017 during his first term, which was dubbed the "Muslim Ban" when he banned residents of seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S., which also included Somalia, as well as imposing a four-month ban on refugees. The inclusion once again of Somalia on the new travel ban list will have an outsized impact on Minnesota, which has the largest Somali population in the U.S., with more than 85,000 residents of Somali descent currently living in the state. News of the ban was swiftly condemned by Rep. Ilhan Omar, the 3rd District congresswoman who was herself born in Somalia. "This discriminatory policy is beyond shameful," she said. "Just like his first Muslim Ban, this latest announcement flies in the face of basic morality and goes directly against our values. "This racist policy will not make us safe, it will separate families and endanger lives. We cannot let it stand." As well as the 12 banned countries, there will also be heightened restrictions on visitors from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. In a video shared on social media, President Trump linked the ban to the antisemitic terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado, this past weekend, when a man allegedly yelling "Free Palestine" threw molotov cocktails at a crowd of protesters calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. The suspect has been identified as an Egyptian national who the Department of Homeland Security says overstayed a tourist visa. Egypt is not included on the ban list, which the Associated Press reports appears to have been compiled primarily based on a DHS report of tourist, business, and student visa overstays, with countries with the highest percentages picked out. In the case of Somalia, the White House describes it as a "terrorist safe haven," claiming the country does "not have appropriate screening and vetting measures" and has "historically refused to accept back its removable nationals." This story was originally reported by Bring Me The News on Jun 5, 2025, where it first appeared.
Al Jazeera
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
World reacts to Trump's travel ban, hits several nations mired in conflict
Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning citizens from 12 countries from entering the country in a move he said was to protect the US from 'foreign terrorists', mirroring a contentious policy from his first term as United States president. As part of Trump's intensified crackdown on immigration, a cornerstone of his previous time in the White House and on the campaign trail, he announced on Wednesday that nationals from 12 countries – Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen – will be banned. Seven countries will also be subject to partial restrictions, which will mean they will no longer be able to apply for immigrant or non-immigrant temporary visas. However, some temporary work visas will still be allowed. Trump cited an attack in Boulder, Colorado, where a man threw a petrol bomb into a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators, as proof of the need for immigration curbs. '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,' Trump said in a video message from the Oval Office posted on X. 'We don't want them,' he added. This latest travel ban follows Trump's executive order during his first term, in which he banned nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries, also known as the 'Muslim ban,' in 2017. Seven of the countries on the new list of those banned also have Muslim-majority populations and several are beset by ongoing conflicts. Despite the new suspensions, the ban will not apply to existing visa holders, foreign diplomats, athletes and their teams, among other exemptions. The ban is expected to come into effect on June 9 at 12:01 am EDT (04:01 GMT). Here's how the world has reacted to the ban. The AU, which has seven of the 12 nations on the travel ban list, said the ban would harm 'people-to-people ties, educational exchange, commercial engagement, and broader diplomatic relations' that were built with the US over past decades. 'The African Union Commission respectfully calls upon the US administration to consider adopting a more consultative approach and to engage in constructive dialogue with the countries concerned,' the bloc said in a statement. President of Oxfam America, Abby Maxman, said the decision was not about 'national security'. 'It is about sowing division and vilifying communities that are seeking safety and opportunity in the United States,' Maxman said. The Somali ambassador to the US, Dahir Hassan Abdi, said in a statement that Mogadishu 'values its longstanding relationship with the United States'. '[Somalia] stands ready to engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised,' Abdi said. Interior minister Diosdado Cabello described the ban as a 'great risk for anyone, not just Venezuelans'. 'They persecute our countrymen, our people, for no reason,' he said. Venezuelan migrants in the US have been targeted by the Trump administration for deportation to El Salvador, many on unproven allegations of being gang members.
NBC News
05-06-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Fury and resignation around the world as Trump's travel ban comes roaring back
Nationals of 12 countries will be barred from entering the United States: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Partial bans have also been placed on nationals from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Many on the list are majority-Muslim countries, and several of those began observing the Hajj pilgrimage holiday late Wednesday, making an immediate response less likely. Officials at U.S. embassies in Libya, Chad, Eritrea, Sudan and Turkmenistan were not available for comment. Still, Shawn VanDiver, President of the Afghan refugee advocacy group #AfghanEvac's referred to the ban as 'political theater' and 'a second Muslim Ban, dressed up in bureaucracy.' Trump began a video address on Wednesday by citing recent violence in Boulder, Colorado, where an Egyptian man seeking asylum with an expired tourist visa injured at least 12 demonstrators in what city officials called an antisemitic attack, as justification for a renewed travel ban. Egypt is not on the list of banned countries, but its absence speaks to the importance of Egyptian influence both on American Middle East policy and in the region at large, said Ahmed Aboudouh, an associate fellow at the London-based think tank, Chatham House. The proclamation largely affects 'conflict-prone [nations], or ones which have security issues at this time, or don't have the diplomatic or security heft to respond very aggressively to this U.S. ban,' Aboudouh said. 'We're not seeing the U.S. going after its strategic partners in either the Middle East or Africa.' The White House's decision sparked a carefully-worded rebuke from the African Union Commission, which in a statement Thursday urged the U.S. to exercise its right to protect its borders 'in a manner that is balanced, evidence-based, and reflective of the long-standing partnership between the United States and Africa.' 'The Commission remains concerned about the potential negative impact of such measures on... relations that have been carefully nurtured over decades,' it added.
