Trump travel ban takes effect Monday. What we know

Pres. Trump's new travel ban takes effect

President Donald Trump's new travel ban took effect on Monday. The new ban will impact 12 mainly African and Middle Eastern countries. The new ban takes effect amid rising tension over the president’s escalating campaign of immigration enforcement.

President Donald Trump’s new ban on travel to the U.S. by citizens from 12 mainly African and Middle Eastern countries took effect Monday.

Who does the travel ban impact?

Dig deeper:

The Associated Press reported that President Donald Trump’s travel ban, which was signed last week, applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. It also imposes heightened restrictions on people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela who are outside the U.S. and don’t hold a valid visa.

Separately, the travel ban does make exceptions for Afghans on Special Immigrant Visas, typically individuals who worked most closely with the U.S. government during the two-decade-long war there.

FILE-President Donald Trump gestures as he walks to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on May 12, 2025. (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

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This new ban does not cancel visas previously issued to individuals from countries on the list, the AP noted, citing guidance issued last week to all U.S. diplomatic missions. 

But unless an applicant meets a requirement for an exemption to the travel ban, his or her application will be rejected beginning Monday. Travelers with previously issued visas should still be able to enter the U.S. even after the ban takes effect.

The AP reported that Trump also connected the new ban to a terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado, claiming it reinforced the dangers posed by some visitors who overstay visas. U.S. officials told the AP that the man charged in the attack overstayed a tourist visa. He is from Egypt, a country that is not on Trump’s restricted list.

Has Trump issued a travel ban before?

The backstory:

During his first term in office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January 2017 banning travel to the U.S. by citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries — Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen.

Travelers from those countries were either banned from getting on their flights to the U.S. or detained at U.S. airports after they landed. They included students and faculty as well as businesspeople, tourists and people visiting friends and family.

The order, often referred to as the "Muslim ban" or the "travel ban," was revised amid legal challenges, until a version was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.

The ban impacted multiple categories of travelers and immigrants from Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Syria, and Libya, plus North Koreans and some Venezuelan government officials and their families.