Dismay and disbelief as Trump bans visitors from 12 countries

Officials and residents in countries whose citizens will soon be banned from visiting the US expressed dismay and disbelief on June 5 at President Donald Trump's new sweeping travel ban as his administration intensifies its immigration crackdown.

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WASHINGTON -

Mr Trump signed a proclamation on June 4 barring citizens of 12 countries from entering the US starting on June 9, asserting that the restrictions were necessary to protect against "foreign terrorists".

The order was reminiscent of a similar move Mr Trump implemented during his first term in office from 2017 to 2021, when he barred travellers from seven Muslim-majority nations.

But the new ban is much more expansive and covers Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

Citizens of seven other countries — Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela — will be partially restricted.

A senior diplomat with the Sudanese Foreign Ministry, who asked not to be named, said Mr Trump's justification did not stand up to scrutiny.

"Sudanese people have never been known to pose a terrorist threat anywhere in the world," the official said.