Trump imposes travel bans on 12 countries, restricts foreign student visas for Harvard

U.S. President Trump has announced a new travel ban affecting 12 countries, including Iran.

Meantime, he signed an order restricting foreign student visas for Harvard following campus protests against the Gaza war.

Byeon Ye-young has this report.

President Trump announced on Wednesday that citizens of 12 countries would be banned from visiting the United States.

Trump ties the new ban to Sunday's terror attack in Boulder, Colorado.

"The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas. We don't want them."

The new ban omits North Korea but applies to twelve other countries.

Additional restrictions will be imposed on visitors from seven countries.

AP News described the move as the "resurrection" of a policy from Trump's first term in 2017 that barred entry from several Muslim-majority countries.

That original ban, later repealed by the Biden administration in 2021, affected nationals from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen, as well as North Korea and some Venezuelan officials.

The announcement follows a January executive order requiring U.S. agencies to assess which countries pose a national security risk or demonstrate "hostile attitudes" toward the U.S., laying the groundwork for renewed travel restrictions.

Also on Wednesday, Trump signed a proclamation restricting foreign student visas for Harvard University.

The proclamation blocks entry into the U.S. of any new Harvard students holding student visas and instructs the Secretary of State to review and potentially revoke those already issued.

Trump declared in an executive order that it would jeopardize national security to allow Harvard to continue hosting foreign students on its campus.

This marks the latest escalation in the administration's standoff with Harvard, which has resisted calls for sweeping reforms it says would undermine institutional autonomy.

The administration has already slashed research funding and directed federal agencies to sever ties with the school.

Byeon Ye-young,

Arirang News.