Trump new travel ban 2025: Fears US President will re-introduce ban on travellers from certain countries - with Afghans and Pakistanis potentially barred
US President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to impose a travel ban on the two countries over security and vetting risks.
The ban could come into effect as soon as next week, according to a report by Reuters. The report said the Trump administration has prepared a "list" for the travel ban based on a government review of countries' security and vetting risks.
The move harkens back to President Trump's first term ban on travellers from seven majority-Muslim nations, a policy that went through several iterations before it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018. Former President Joe Biden repealed the ban in 2021, calling it "a stain on our national conscience."
During his campaign, Trump vowed to restore the ban if he won again. "We will seal our border and bring back the travel ban," Trump said at an event in Washington in September.
The initial travel ban targeted five Muslim-majority countries: Yemen, Syria, Iran, Libya, and Somalia. It also put restrictions on nationals from Venezuela and North Korea. Then, in 2020, the ban was expanded to include six additional countries – Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania.
After taking office on January 20, Trump issued an executive order requiring intensified security vetting of any foreigners seeking admission to the US to detect national security threats. The order directed several cabinet members to submit by March 12 a list of countries from which travel should be partly or fully suspended because their "vetting and screening information is so deficient."
The new ban could affect tens of thousands of Afghans who have been cleared for resettlement in the US as refugees or on Special Immigrant Visas because they are at risk of Taliban retribution for working for the US during a 20-year war in their home country. The Reuters report said Afghanistan and Pakistan will be included in the recommended list of countries for a complete travel ban.
So far, no official statement has been issued on the initiative overseen by the departments of State, Justice and Homeland Security and the Office of the Director for National Intelligence. Shawn VanDiver, the head of #AfghanEvac, a coalition of groups that coordinates evacuation and resettlement of Afghans with the American government, urged those holding valid US visas to travel as soon as possible if they can.
"While no official announcement has been made, multiple sources within the U.S. government suggest a new travel restriction could be implemented within the next week," he said in a statement.