On June 5, 2025, the White House announced it would be banning entry into the United States for citizens of 12 countries and severely restricting travel for seven other nations. President Donald Trump indicated it was partially in response to the attack on Jewish people in Colorado by an Egyptian man who was in the country on an expired work authorization visa. However, Egypt is not on the list of banned nations.
While Executive Order 14161 may seem identical to the travel bans President Trump instituted during his first term, what's missing may make it more difficult for immigration rights advocates to be successful opposing it in court. But legal challenges are likely to occur regardless.
Deja Vu All Over Again
The new policy, which goes by the somewhat wordy title of "Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats," is patterned after versions of President Trump's so-called "Muslim Bans" from his first administration.
Defeated in federal and appellate courts, the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately upheld the ban by a narrow 5-4 vote in 2018. Perhaps with those losses in mind, the Trump administration's new ban left out an important inclusion from earlier iterations—the word "Muslim."
Barring court action, the new ban is scheduled to go into place on June 9, 2025. It bans all entry into the United States for citizens from Afghanistan, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, the Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. There are also severe travel restrictions placed on those from Cuba, Venezuela, Burundi, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Turkmenistan.
The White House cites the banned nations as threats to national security and possessing some of the highest percentages of visitors overstaying their visas. In 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection estimated that Somalia had 14 citizens who overstayed their visas, while Eritrea had 134. The CBP estimated there were a total of 565,155 overstay events that year across all countries.
The administration has indicated that the nations listed are to blame for their inclusion in the ban. It claims that this is due to faulty vetting, screening, and refusal to take back those being removed from the U.S. by these countries.
Is the Hotel Deposit Refundable?
There are exceptions in place for certain people who qualify, but vague wording may cause issues down the road. For example, it allows for athletes, coaches, support staff, and immediate family from the banned countries to enter on visas for "major sporting events," such as the 2026 men's World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics scheduled in Los Angeles. It makes no mention of fans, other family members, or those attending for work.
Deciding which other events qualify as major and who'll be granted permission to attend will be decided by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which is projected to be a massive undertaking.
Predictably, some of the banned countries have responded with sanctions of their own. Chad offered a reciprocal ban, with President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno adding, "Chad has no planes to offer, no billions of dollars to give, but Chad has his dignity and pride."
Related Resources
- How To Get a Nonimmigrant U.S. Visa (FindLaw's Immigration Law)
- How To Navigate the U.S. Visa Process (FindLaw's Understanding U.S. Visa Laws)
- Non-Financial Constitutional Issues Facing Religion: Trump v. Hawaii(FindLaw's First Amendment)
