Trump signed Proclamation 10949 suspending entry from 19 countries, full ban on 12 majority-Black or Muslim-majority nations
On June 4, 2025, President Trump signed Proclamation 10949 creating a new multi-country entry ban effective June 9, 2025. The proclamation imposed a full suspension of entry for nationals of 12 countries—including Afghanistan, Haiti, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen—and partial suspensions for 7 more, including Cuba and Venezuela. Critics and legal analysts identified the country selection criteria as selectively applied, noting that countries with worse vetting records were excluded while 10 of 12 fully banned nations are majority-Black or majority-Muslim.
Actors
On June 4, 2025, President Trump signed Proclamation 10949, "Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats," creating the broadest entry ban of his second term, effective June 9, 2025. The proclamation imposed a full suspension of entry on nationals of 12 countries—Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen—across all visa categories. It imposed partial suspensions on nationals of 7 additional countries—Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela—barring entry on immigrant, B-1/B-2, F, M, and J visas. The stated justifications were inadequate information-sharing and vetting cooperation, high visa overstay rates, and recalcitrance in accepting deportees.
Legal and policy analysts identified the country selection criteria as selectively applied. The American Immigration Council found that several countries with higher overstay rates and worse deportation cooperation were not included on the list, and that the selected countries align closely with prior Trump travel ban target lists. Ten of the 12 fully banned countries are in sub-Saharan Africa or are majority-Muslim nations; the partial ban added Cuba and Venezuela, reflecting adversarial foreign policy targets rather than the stated vetting criteria. The proclamation invoked INA § 212(f), which grants the president authority to suspend entry of any class of aliens when he deems it detrimental to U.S. interests.
The proclamation became the legal basis for subsequent enforcement actions. On December 2, 2025, USCIS Director Edlow issued a policy memorandum freezing all immigration benefits—visas, green cards, and naturalizations—for nationals of all 19 countries. A federal court vacated that freeze in June 2026 as violating the Administrative Procedure Act. The proclamation's country list was also cited in litigation over deportation programs targeting third-country nationals.
Why we recorded this
Proclamation 10949 is the broadest travel ban of Trump's second term, categorically suspending entry for nationals of 12 countries and restricting it for 7 more on criteria critics identified as selectively applied. Ten of the 12 fully banned countries are majority-Black or majority-Muslim nations, while countries with objectively worse vetting cooperation and higher overstay rates were excluded. The Standing records this because the use of executive entry-ban authority under discriminatory selection criteria—dressing national-origin and religious targeting in national-security language—erodes the constitutional norm against government discrimination by protected characteristic.
Sources
- Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats — Federal Register primary accessed June 25, 2026
- Trump's 2025 Travel Ban: Who Is Affected and What It Could Cost the U.S. Economy — American Immigration Council investigative accessed June 25, 2026
- Presidential Proclamation Imposes New Travel Restrictions — University of Washington International Student Services secondary accessed June 25, 2026
See also
- Secretary Rubio announced U.S. would aggressively revoke visas of Chinese students with CCP ties or in critical fields
- USCIS added undefined 'anti-Americanism' as disqualifying factor in all immigration benefit adjudications
- DHS Secretary Noem terminated 2021 TPS designation for Venezuela, stripping deportation protection from ~250,000 Venezuelans
- State Department cable halted all Afghan visa processing worldwide, including SIVs for wartime allies
- Trump signed Proclamation 10948 banning new Harvard international student visas, directing State to revoke existing ones