US Travel Ban on Citizens of 12 Countries Officially Comes Into Effect

American President Donald Trump's sweeping travel ban on 12 countries and partial travel restriction on seven countries has come into effect from 9 June 2025. In retaliation Chad has banned the issuing of visas to the American citizens. 

The United States Government has also sanctioned four judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) over their role in issuing a warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his alleged role in war crimes in Gaza.

Countries which has been affected 

Last week American President Donald Trump signed an executive order to ban the citizens from 12 countries : Chad, Afghanistan, Congo-Brazzaville, Myanmar, Equatorial Guinea,Haiti, Iran,Sudan, Libya, , Eritrea, Somalia, and Yemen from entering the US.

The United States has also partially restricted the citizens from seven countries - Cuba, Laos, Togo,Sierra Leone, Burundi, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

Reason for ban 

Justifying the ban, President Trump listed the reason on his social media account.

According to him;

• Nationals of countries included in the ban pose terrorism-related  and public-safety risks,
• They overstay their visas in the United States.
• These countries had a deficient screening and vetting process for granting visas,
• have historically refused to take back their citizens from the United States.

In his first term as President in 2017, Trump imposed a travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

US Sanction Judges of the ICC 

The Donald Trump administration has sanctioned four judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

These four judges, all women, will not be allowed to enter the United States, and if they have any property or assets in the United States, it will be frozen.

Judges and the Reason for the Ban

Beti Hohler of Slovenia and Reine Alapini-Gansou of Benin were part of the ICC bench that issued an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November 2024. Netanyahu was accused of war crimes in Gaza. 

The lower house of the United States Congress, the House of Representatives, passed a resolution in January 2025 to punish the ICC in protest over its Netanyahu arrest warrant.

Judge  Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza of Peru and Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda were part of the bench that authorised the investigation into allegations of American troops committing war crimes during the Afghan war.

Also Read: Arrest Warrant Issued by ICC against Israeli PM Netanyahu & 2 others