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President Donald Trump has signed a sweeping order blocking travel to the United States from nearly 20 countries identified as high-risk for terrorism, visa abuse, and failure to share security information.
The new travel restrictions — announced under Executive Order 14161 — apply to nationals from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, Libya, and Yemen, all deemed “very high risk” due to terrorist activity, weak or hostile governments, and high visa overstay rates.
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Seven more countries, including Venezuela, Cuba, and Laos, face partial restrictions.
“President Trump is fulfilling his promise to protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors that want to come to our country and cause us harm,” said White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson to Fox News Digital.
She called the restrictions “commonsense” and targeted at countries that “lack proper vetting, exhibit high visa overstay rates, or fail to share identity and threat information.”
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Afghanistan, for example, has a student visa overstay rate of 29.3% and is controlled by the Taliban, a designated global terrorist group.
Iran remains a state sponsor of terrorism and has refused cooperation with U.S. authorities. Libya, Somalia, and Yemen all lack functioning governments capable of issuing secure documents.
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