President Donald Trump has launched a sweeping crackdown on legal entry into the United States, reviving his travel ban and expanding it to include nearly two dozen countries. The administration has blocked most travel from places such as Haiti and Somalia, revoked temporary protected immigration status for hundreds of thousands of people, and clamped down on student visas.
The Supreme Court in 2018 gave Trump permission to keep out foreign nationals whose presence the administration says would be detrimental to U.S. interests. Trump has reinstituted and expanded a program that puts full or partial restrictions on travel to America from the citizens of 19 nations.
Twelve countries were completely banned from entry starting June 9, including Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, and Yemen. Visitors from nine additional countries were hit with partial immigration and travel bans. Athletes, relatives, and coaches traveling for sporting events like the World Cup and Olympics were exempted, as were immediate family members of some existing visa holders.
The administration also targeted Chinese students connected to China’s Communist Party or studying in critical fields, while trying to stop international students from studying at Harvard. A leaked State Department cable revealed the administration may require prospective international students to undergo social media vetting.
Trump’s administration has cited broad national security concerns for many of its actions while refusing to go into detail on individual cases. The policy could prevent 34,000 immigrant visas and more than 125,000 nonimmigrant visas from being issued each year, according to an analysis by the American Immigration Council.
Critics argue that the policy raises questions around arbitrary exceptions for people like athletes, who were given a reprieve due to their participation in international sporting events. The Trump administration’s move has drawn criticism and lawsuits from advocacy groups, which argue that it targets vulnerable populations and undermines U.S. values of fairness and inclusivity.
Source: https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/06/10/trumps-travel-ban-us-shuts-doors-countries/84123689007