By CHRIS MEGERIAN and FARNOUSH AMIRI
WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials in some of the 12 countries whose citizens will be soon banned from visiting the United States denounced President Donald Trump’s move to resurrect a hallmark policy of his first term and vowed Thursday to push back against the U.S.
The ban, which was announced Wednesday, takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday, a cushion that may avoid the chaos that unfolded at airports nationwide when a similar measure took effect with virtually no notice in 2017. Trump, who signaled plans for a new ban upon taking office again in January, appears to be on firmer ground this time after the Supreme Court sided with him.
The 12 countries — Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen — include some of the world’s poorest nations. Seven more countries — Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela — now face heightened travel restrictions.
In the central African nation of Chad, President Mahamat Idriss Deby announced his country would respond by suspending visas to U.S. citizens “in accordance with the principles of reciprocity.”
In a post on Facebook, Deby noted his nation, which faces widespread poverty, made a barely veiled reference to Qatar giving Trump a luxury Boeing 747 jet to use as Air Force One.
“Chad has no planes to offer, no billions of dollars to give but Chad has his dignity and pride,” Deby said.
Some of the 12 countries were on the banned list in Trump’s first term. North Korea and Syria, which were on the list in the first administration, were spared this time.
While many of the listed countries send few people to the United States, Haiti, Cuba and Venezuela had been major sources of immigration in recent years.
Trump tied the new ban to Sunday’s terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, saying it underscored the dangers posed by some visitors who overstay visas. The suspect, who is accused of turning a makeshift flamethrower on a group of people, is from Egypt, which is not on Trump’s restricted list. The Department of Homeland Security says he overstayed a tourist visa.
The travel ban results from a Jan. 20 executive order Trump issued requiring government agencies to compile a report on “hostile attitudes” toward the U.S. and whether entry from certain countries represented a national security risk.
Visa overstays
Trump said some countries had “deficient” screening for passports and other public documents or have historically refused to take back their own citizens. He relied extensively on an annual Homeland Security report of people who remain in the U.S. after their visas expired.
Measuring overstay rates has challenged experts for decades, but the government has made a limited attempt annually since 2016. Trump’s proclamation cites overstay rates for eight of the 12 banned countries.
While Trump’s list captures many of the most egregious offenders, it omits others. Djibouti, for example, had a 23..9% overstay rate among business visitors and tourists in the 12-month period through September 2023, higher than seven countries on the banned list and six countries on the restricted list.
The findings are “based on sketchy data and a misguided concept of collective punishment,” said Doug Rand, a former Biden administration official at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Decision is a blow to Venezuelans
In Venezuela, President Nicolás Maduro’s government condemned the measure, calling it a “stigmatization and criminalization campaign” against Venezuelans.
“What happened is not an isolated incident, but rather a new demonstration of the visceral hatred against the Venezuelan people that inspires those who currently conduct Washington’s foreign policy,” according to a statement.
Venezuelans have been a major target of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, with many accused of having ties to the gang Tren de Aragua. The administration has offered little evidence to back up the allegation but has used it to justify the deportation of hundreds of Venezuelans.
For years, Maduro’s government had mostly refused the entry of immigrants deported from the U.S., but it reversed course after Trump took office this year.
The White House announcement stunned the family of María Aldana, who has long worked multiple jobs in Caracas to support her brother’s dream to study engineering in the U.S. The family has spent more than $6,000 to finance his goals.
Aldana, 24, said her distraught brother, who enrolled at a California university two years ago, called the family crying.
“We did it all legally,” Aldana said.
The African Union Commission, meanwhile, appealed to the U.S. to reconsider “in a manner that is balanced, evidence-based, and reflective of the long-standing partnership between the United States and Africa.”
International aid groups and refugee resettlement organizations were harsher: “This latest proclamation is an attempt to further eviscerate lawful immigration pathways under the false guise of national security,” said Sarah Mehta, the American Civil Liberties Union’s deputy director of policy and government affairs for immigration.
Stephen Yale-Loehr, a retired Cornell University Law School professor and expert in immigration law, said the ban is likely to withstand legal challenges, noting the Supreme Court eventually allowed a ban to take effect in Trump’s first term. Trump’s invocation this week of national security, along with exceptions for green-card holders, athletes and others, could also help the ban stand up in court.
Shock in Iran
The news came as a shock to many in Iran despite the decades of enmity between the two countries. Reports suggest thousands of university students each year travel to America to study, and others have extended families living in America, some of whom fled after the 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew the shah.
Tensions also remain high because negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program have yet to reach any agreement, but Tehran resident Mehri Soltani offered rare support for Trump’s decision.
“Those who have family members in the U.S., it’s their right to go, but a bunch of bad people and terrorists and murderers want to go there as well,” he said.
‘America has to cancel it’
Outside the former U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, a Taliban guard expressed his disappointment.
“America has to cancel it,” Ilias Kakal said.
The Afghanistan travel ban was announced as forms of support for Afghans who worked with the U.S. are being steadily eroded under the Trump administration. A refugee program has been suspended, and there is no funding to help them leave Afghanistan or resettle in the U.S., although a ban exception was made for people with special immigrant visas, a program created to help those in danger because they worked with the U.S. during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
In addition, many people who “served shoulder-to-shoulder” with the U.S did not qualify for the special visa program, according to No One Left Behind, a group that has advocated for Afghans who worked with the U.S.
Khalid Khan, an Afghan refugee now living in Pakistan, said he worked for the U.S. military for eight years.
“I feel abandoned,” Khan said. “So long as Trump is there, we are nowhere.”
Since the Taliban took over the country in 2021, only Afghans with foreign passports or green cards were able to travel to the United States with any ease, travel agents said.
First term ban
During his first term, Trump issued an executive order banning travel to the U.S. by citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries. It was one of the most chaotic and confusing moments of his young presidency.
The order was retooled amid legal challenges, until a version was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.
Trump and others defended the initial ban on national security grounds, arguing it was aimed at protecting the country and not founded on anti-Muslim bias. However, the president had called for an explicit ban on Muslims during his first campaign for the White House.
Amiri reported from the United Nations. Associated Press writers Regina Garcia Cano, Rebecca Santana, Jon Gambrell, Ellen Knickmeyer, Omar Farouk, Nasser Karimi, Elliot Spagat, Elena Becatoros and Danica Coto contributed to this report.
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