Trump's new travel ban takes effect today, millions to get affected: What you need to know

(File Photo) US President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 3, 2025.

US President Donald Trump's sweeping new travel ban came into effect early Monday immediately after midnight, barring citizens from a dozen nations from entering the United States and reviving a divisive measure from his first term.

The move is expected to disrupt refugee pathways and further restrict immigration as the Trump administration expands its crackdown on illegal entries.

The updated ban blocks all visa entries from 12 countries and imposes partial restrictions on seven others, citing national security risks and failures in immigration cooperation. The 12 countries facing a full visa ban include Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Citizens from these nations will no longer be eligible to apply for any category of US visas unless they meet specific exemption criteria.

In addition to the complete bans, partial restrictions now apply to nationals from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. These partial restrictions often target tourist, student, or work visas and are aimed at limiting high-risk overstay categories.

The White House said the move was driven by a mix of national security concerns – particularly the failure of certain countries to provide adequate identity verification for visa applicants – as well as concerns over high visa overstay rates and the refusal of some nations to repatriate citizens who are ordered deported from the United States.

In announcing his restrictions last week, Trump said the new measure was spurred by a recent "terrorist attack" on Jews in Colorado.

The group had been protesting in solidarity with hostages held in Gaza when they were assaulted by a man the White House said had overstayed his visa.

That attack, Trump said, "underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted" or who overstay their visas.

The ban will not apply to athletes competing in the 2026 World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, or in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Trump's order said.

Nor will it apply to diplomats from the targeted countries.

United Nations rights chief Volker Turk warned that "the broad and sweeping nature of the new travel ban raises concerns from the perspective of international law."

US Democratic lawmakers and elected officials blasted the ban as draconian and unconstitutional.

"I know the pain that Trump's cruel and xenophobic travel bans inflict because my family has felt it firsthand," congresswoman Yassamin Ansari, who is Iranian-American, posted Sunday on X.

"We will fight this ban with everything we have."

This fresh round of restrictions differs from the controversial 2017 “Muslim Ban” in several ways. It includes non-Muslim-majority countries such as Haiti and Venezuela and was carefully crafted to withstand legal challenges.

Trump’s administration also provided advance notice to avoid chaos at airports and outlined specific exemptions. These include lawful permanent residents (green card holders), dual nationals traveling with non-restricted passports, and a narrow group of individuals such as diplomats, UN officials, select athletes, and students already in the US with valid status.