President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Washington. [AP Photo/Evan Vucci]

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump issued a presidential proclamation re-instituting the travel ban from his first presidential administration, expanded to include more countries. Trump said the attack last weekend at a march supporting Israeli hostages in Boulder, Colorado, “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,” concluding “We don’t want them.”

The proclamation fully restricts and limits the entry of nationals from 12 countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, and partially restricts and limits the entry of nationals from an additional seven countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. Under the restrictions, residents of the countries listed under the partial ban will be unable to apply for six of the major visa categories, including business, tourism and visas for students.

The travel ban would impact over 400 million people, including the hundreds of thousands of refugees who will now be denied asylum. American imperialism bears responsibility for the devastation of the countries affected by the travel ban.

At the start of his meeting Thursday with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office, Trump was asked why the list of banned countries does not include Egypt. Egypt is the country of origin of the suspect in the attack in Boulder Colorado, which Trump cited in justifying this travel ban. Trump replied that Egypt “has things under control,” adding that the ban applies only to countries that “don’t have things under control.” By “have things under control” Trump means that Egypt’s authoritarian government maintains political surveillance of its population and is subservient to the interests of American imperialism.

The statement from Trump that his administration is excluding immigration from countries that “don’t have things under control” echoes the statement made before the travel ban placed during his first administration: “Why do we want all these people from Africa here? Why do we want all these people from shithole countries?”

A significant difference between Trump’s first administration and the current one, is that Trump’s openly racist statements produced declarations of shock in the media and denunciations from Democratic party politicians. This most recent announcement of a travel ban produced a fraction of the posturing from the media and political establishment. At the time, the problem for the ruling class and Democratic party was that Trump was saying openly that which the members of the oligarchy the state apparatus think and say in private.

In the first Trump presidency, the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the ban and upholding the president’s power to seal the country’s borders. Trump, articulating the policies of American imperialism in blunt language, dispensed with the longstanding art of American imperialist politics: hiding the criminal activities of the US imperialism with the verbiage of humanitarianism and democratic rights.

Legal scholars have warned that this current iteration of the Trump travel ban is likely to be upheld if challenged in the far-right dominated Supreme Court, with University of Michigan Law School professor Barbara McQuade saying in a BBC Newshour interview, “This time I think there has been more thought given into this… this time we see a mix of countries, not just Muslim-majority countries… It seems to me very likely that it will ultimately be upheld by the Supreme Court.”

The Supreme Court ruled in the five-to-four decision on the 2017 travel ban, that the president and the military have the power to take drastic measures in a “national emergency” or “during a time of crisis,” including “if the United States were on the brink of war.” In the current administration, the “state of exception,” the pseudo-legal framework under which the crimes of the Nazis were carried out, is the operating principle.

The American “state of exception” found early expression in this Supreme Court ruling, and major rulings on the basis of “national security” arguments following the launching of the War on Terror in 2001.

The World Socialist Web Site wrote in response to the 2018 Supreme Court ruling:

There can now be little question that the country’s highest court will rubber-stamp whatever authoritarian measures Trump plans on enacting, including the abolition of due process for immigrants and the erection of concentration camps.

The travel ban proclamation and the earlier executive orders targeting immigrants are the spearhead of a dictatorship and intend to whip up anti-immigrant sentiment. The crackdown revives the legacy of the internment of hundreds of thousands of Japanese-Americans during World War II, and the era of Chinese exclusion. Chinese exclusion laws were upheld by the Supreme Court with arguments that Trump invokes today.

There is no viable fight against the attack on immigrants and the drive toward dictatorship without a complete break with the Democratic and Republican parties. The Democratic Party is an active collaborator with the fascistic Republican party; no confidence can be placed in the Democrats to defend immigrants. The mass mobilization of the working class is the only way the attack on immigrants and democratic rights can be opposed.

Opposition to the fascist policies against immigrants must be organized in defiance of the Democrats who have openly collaborated with Trump in his anti-immigrant campaign. The Democratic Party has not called for any protests against these measures because they are in fundamental agreement with Trump’s policies. Furthermore, the Democrats recognize that the situation in this country is explosive, and fear setting into motion a movement that they cannot control.

The SEP calls for workers to establish workplace and neighborhood committees, independent of the trade unions and the Democratic Party, to popularize these demands and mobilize their communities, schools and workplaces in defense of the rights of immigrants and all working people. This struggle must be guided by the understanding that the defense of basic rights is inseparable from a political struggle against the capitalist system—the source of war, inequality and repression—and the fight for socialism.

The list of countries banned by the Trump administration’s newest order seems to have no rhyme or reason. Little connects Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, all targeted for a total ban, or Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela, all targeted for restrictions. The reasoning stated in the order is that they all pose security threats measured by “whether each country has a significant terrorist presence within its territory, its visa-overstay rate, and its cooperation with accepting back its removable nationals”.

Visa overstays, the order elaborates, “indicates a blatant disregard for United States immigration laws”. Yet the latest data on overstays from Customs and Border Protection does show these countries high on the list, along with others not included.

If we sit with this list a little longer, though, with attention to the history of the world we share, we can see a different unifying logic. All of these countries are in the global south, their citizens are racialized as Black or brown and Muslim. Most have high poverty rates that hover at or above half their population. Several have recently been sites of social upheaval or horrific wars. Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and Afghanistan, for example, all appear on the World Food Program’s list of the world’s most dire food crises.

These facts do not, as the travel ban assumes, tell of the inherent violence of people from these nations, nor of a penchant to “disregard” law. In fact, even the data on overstays says nothing of people’s legal status. Nationals of Afghanistan, Burma, El Salvador, Haiti, Somalia, Sudan and Venezuela have long had a right to apply for temporary protected status due to the insecurity of their countries. We do not know how many of the so-called “overstayers” applied for other protections like asylum.

The poverty and insecurity of these nations are mainly an indication that they have been subject to imperialism, including US military and economic intervention and coercion.

You cannot understand the endemic violence or economic destitution that forces people to leave Haiti without attending to both the French extortion of the island nation in exchange for their freedom from enslavement, and the United States’ occupation of it. You cannot understand the mass exodus of people from Afghanistan, one of the world’s largest refugee populations, without understanding the United States’ funding of the mujahideen, or the so-called “war on terror”, that did little more than further destabilize the nation. Iran’s current regime is only possible because the US supported British efforts in destroying Iranian democracy to save British Petroleum.

View image in fullscreen Yemenis negotiate at a livestock market in Sanaa on 3 June in preparation for the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday. Photograph: Mohammed Huwais/AFP via Getty Images

US sanctions, whether in Iran or Venezuela or in Cuba, have not contributed to pressuring regime change, but rather to economic devastation and mass displacement. American shrapnel has been pulled from the bodies of Yemeni children. Since March, 250 people have been killed in US strikes on Saada and Sanaa, at least 68 of whom were detained African migrants.

Time and time again data shows that African countries such as oil-rich Equatorial Guinea and Chad, ravaged by companies such as ExxonMobil, and gold-rich Sudan, are not victims of poverty, but victims of theft. The United Nations estimates that $86bn leaves the continent each year in “illicit financial flows”, or theft through criminal activities and tax evasion. What’s more, between 1970 and 2022, countries in the global south, including those on this list, are estimated to have paid more than $2.5tn in interest alone to the benefit of the global north. Thomas Sankara, a former president of Burkina Faso, once called debt a “skillfully managed reconquest of Africa”.

The wealthiest nations in the world are causing the climate crisis that the poorest nations pay for. Climate activists estimate that governments in the global north owe $5tn each year to countries in the global south for the devastation they are causing them.

Seen from this vantage, Trump’s travel ban, which proudly cites what came to be known as the “Muslim ban” of his first administration in its opening paragraphs, is a cruel escalation of a longstanding policy of profiting off Black and brown lives and disposing of the most vulnerable among them.

In displacement camps in New York and Tijuana and the Aegean islands of Greece, I have met pharmacists, artists, DJs and journalists from many of the targeted countries. Just this week I spoke to a political activist who, forced to flee a massacre in one of the targeted countries, left her three young children behind. Speaking to me after the issuance of this ban, she worried whether she would be able to secure her asylum, which is currently being adjudicated, and whether she could ever reunify her family. Her voice broke as she said: “I wish they could understand that I never wanted to come here.”

Trump justified the ban by referencing a recent incident in which an Egyptian man in Boulder, Colorado, injured 12 people calling for the release of Israeli hostages (though notably Egypt is not on the list). That this one act justifies the banning of millions of people is absurd. This latest ban is simply another installment in a series of policies meant to “Make America white again”, following a ban on asylum and a cancellation of humanitarian parole. It comes as attacks on our immigrant students continue, particularly those who dare speak out against the US funding of Gaza’s decimation.

It is not the people of these nations that are a threat to the security of the United States. It is the United States that has long been a threat to them, robbing them of their wealth, destroying their institutions and environments, and then denying them participation in the safety built at their expense. We should be atoning for our sins, not exacerbating them.

President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation banning nationals from a dozen countries from entering the U.S., primarily targeting Africans and Asians.

On Wednesday (June 4), Trump announced that nationals from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen would be barred from entering the U.S, per NBC News.

The president claimed the new restrictions were necessary to uphold national security and combat terrorism.

“As President, I must act to protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people. I remain committed to engaging with those countries willing to cooperate to improve information-sharing and identity-management procedures, and to address both terrorism-related and public-safety risks,” Trump’s proclamation reads.

According to the proclamation, several countries on the ban list repeatedly declined to accept the return of their nationals or had “unacceptable” visa overstay rates, marking a “blatant disregard for United States immigration laws.” Other countries were included on the list for inadequate screening and vetting measures, the proclamation states.

Along with the 12 countries banned from travel, seven others came under partial restrictions as several visa programs were suspended. The affected countries include Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

All travel restrictions are scheduled to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. ET Monday (June 9).

Trump has previously expressed his desire to limit immigration from Haiti and other African nations, slamming them as “sh**hole” countries and making his preference for European immigrants clear. Earlier this year, the Trump administration canceled an extension of Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status after the Biden administration extended the designation into 2026 due to violence and political turmoil on the island.

See how the internet is reacting to Trump’s travel ban below.

This ban theatrics and ineffective because the barrier of entry, even to get a US visa, is nearly impossible, full of deterrants, and predominantly favors people with means/wealth, who have no intentions to illegally live in the US. — Sarah Mikal (@NetflixFunny) June 5, 2025

U.S. destabilizes Haiti for over a century then punishes Haitians for fleeing the conditions U.S. imperialism created..😒 https://t.co/mF5vC8PN1U — Unapologetically African🌍✨ (@Liberation_Blk) June 5, 2025

Donald Trump has now instituted a travel ban that prevents anyone from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen to enter the United States. But at least a woman isn’t President, right? — Evan (@daviddunn177) June 5, 2025

Trump just dropped a new travel ban 12 countries fully restricted, and yes, Haiti is on the list. Again. Don’t let them gaslight you with “security concerns.” This is about controlling who gets access, who gets dignity, and who gets demonized. pic.twitter.com/QdNS2HYANr — Mrs.Dezod🇭🇹 (@sndra_l) June 5, 2025

This is Trump’s reckless first term travel ban all over again. Just like before, Trump’s expanded ban on travelers from around the world will not improve our national security and will only further isolate the U.S. from the rest of world. Bigotry is not a national security… — Adam Schiff (@SenAdamSchiff) June 5, 2025

Are we seriously back here again? Another blanket travel ban targeting mostly Black, brown, and Muslim-majority countries, under the same tired excuse of “security.” It’s not policy. It’s prejudice dressed in executive power. We’ve seen this movie before. It was discriminatory… — Evaristus Odinikaeze (@odinikaeze) June 5, 2025

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US President Donald Trump issued a proclamation implementing a travel ban on nationals from 12 countries, citing national security risks, according to the White House.

“The Proclamation fully restricts and limits the entry of nationals from 12 countries found to be deficient with regard to screening and vetting and determined to pose a very high risk to the United States,” the White House said in a statement.

Trump’s proclamation fully restricts and limits the entry of nationals from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

In addition to the ban, which takes effect at 12:01 am on Monday (June 9), there will be partial entry restrictions on visitors from 7 countries, including Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

These include limitations on both immigrant and non-immigrant visas such as B-1, B-2, F, M, and J categories, primarily due to high visa overstay rates or insufficient collaboration with US law enforcement agencies.

The move, aimed at safeguarding national security, revives and broadens his contentious travel ban policy on seven Islamic nations, first implemented during his first term in office.

However, his successor, Democratic President Joe Biden, abolished these restrictions in 2021, stating it was “a stain on our national conscience.”

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“We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen… That is why today I am signing a new executive order placing travel restrictions on countries including Yemen, Somalia, Haiti, Libya, and numerous others,” Trump said in his proclamation.