WASHINGTON: A travel ban on 12 countries by US President Donald Trump has come into force, German Press Agency (dpa) reported.
According to a White House statement, the regulation came into effect early on Monday (0401 GMT).
Trump announced the ban on Wednesday, saying that he “must act to protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people.”
The ban, from June 9, fully restricts the entry of nationals from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Those from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela will be partially restricted, Trump’s proclamation adds.
A fact sheet issued by the White House stated that some of the named countries had “inadequate screening and vetting processes, hindering America’s ability to identify potential security threats before entry.”
Other countries “exhibit high visa overstay rates,” or did not cooperate in sharing identity and threat information, it added.
Trump placed travel restrictions on a group of predominantly Muslim nations as one of his first presidential acts after he first took office in 2017.
Several federal courts tried to block the ban before the Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that it was “squarely within the scope of Presidential authority.” – BERNAMA-dpa
