President Donald Trump will sign an executive order at the White House’s Oval Office on January 20, 2025 (Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump issued the much-anticipated “travel ban” late Wednesday, banning the entry of citizens from 12 countries and partially restricting the entry of citizens from smaller countries.

Countries that are completely banned are Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

Countries with partial bans are Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

declaration It will come into effect on Monday.

Wednesday’s declaration is an amended version of the travel ban from the president’s first term, which banned entry from the country primarily to its people. The federal courts defeated several versions of the travel ban until the Supreme Court upheld it in 2018.

The Wednesday declaration allows several exceptions, including visas issued to people in those countries before Wednesday, people granted asylum by the United States, or those with refugee status and legal permanent residents.

The president’s declaration cited national security concerns, but gave most details on why it led to his choice of country.

“However, publicly disclosing additional details that I resorted to making these decisions would seriously damage US national security, and many such details would be categorized,” according to the declaration.

The Trump administration has moved to end temporary legal status, including humanitarian protection from some countries on the banned list, including humanitarian protection in Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela. Immigration advocates are challenging these moves to end legal protections in federal courts around the country.