Citing antisemitic terror attack, Trump issues travel ban on 12 countries

Pointing to the antisemitic terror attack in Colorado by an Egyptian national illegally residing in the US, Trump announces travel ban on 12 countries, including Iran, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, and Afghanistan.

By World Israel News Staff

The Trump administration on Wednesday banned travel from 12 countries assessed to be “high-risk in a move the president linked to a recent terror attack on Jews by an illegal immigrant in Boulder, Colorado.

President Donald Trump signed a proclamation barring entry to the U.S. to nationals from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.

The administration also imposed restrictions on entry to citizens of seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

The White House said this list was drafted based on multiple criteria, including terror risk assessments, visa overstay rates, and the refusal by some countries to accept their citizens back as part of deportation orders.

In a video statement issued through his Truth Social account on Thursday, Trump cited the risk of terror attacks by illegal immigrants, pointing to Sunday’s firebombing attack in Boulder, Colorado.

During the attack, an illegal immigrant from Egypt, who overstayed a visa and subsequent extension order issued after he applied for asylum status, injured 15 people at an event held on behalf of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

“The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, has 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,” Trump said.

“We don’t want ’em,” he added. “We’ve seen one terror attack after another carried out by foreign visa overstayers from dangerous places all over the world.”

In a statement issued by the White House, Trump compared his new travel restrictions to his travel bans on Muslim-majority countries during his first term as president.

“We will restore the travel ban, some people call it the Trump travel ban, and keep the radical Islamic terrorists out of our country that was upheld by the Supreme Court,” he stated.