ORLANDO, Fla. — Starting on Monday, a new travel ban on 12 countries is going into effect after President Donald Trump announced the embargo last week citing security risks.

What You Need To Know

  • This ban on travel to the U.S. will affect citizens from 12 mainly African and Middle Eastern countries

  • The ban also imposes heightened travel restrictions on people from seven other countries 

  • The ban will not revoke visas that were issued prior to Monday from any one of those 12 countries on the list

  • State Rep. Anna V. Eskamani says the ban will not 'make us safer'

This ban on travel to the U.S will affect citizens from 12 mainly African and Middle Eastern countries.

  • Afghanistan
  • Myanmar
  • Chad
  • Congo-Brazzaville
  • Equatorial Guinea
  • Eritrea
  • Haiti
  • Iran
  • Libya
  • Somalia
  • Sudan
  • Yemen 

This comes in the midst of rising tensions over Trump’s immigration enforcement in Los Angeles where protests have intensified after the National Guard was deployed there over the weekend.

The ban also imposes heightened travel restrictions on people from seven other countries — Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela — who are outside the U.S. and who don’t have a visa.

The ban will not revoke visas that were issued prior to Monday from any one of those 12 countries on the list.

However, unless an applicant meets narrow criteria for an exemption to the ban, his or her application will be rejected.

Exceptions will be made for lawful permanent residents, existing visa holders, or individuals whose entry serves U.S. national interests like U.S. government employees or diplomats.

In a video posted to social media last Wednesday, Trump said nationals of those countries could pose “terrorism related” and “public safety” risks and risk overstaying their visas.

The president also cited the recent antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado, as one of the reasons for the ban.

Various Florida lawmakers, including 42nd District State Rep. Anna V. Eskamani, held a virtual press conference Friday, condemning the travel ban.

“This travel ban does nothing to make us safer. What it does do is tear families apart, block students and professionals from opportunities, disrupts our economy and targets people based on where they come from, not who they are. And again, we have been here before, the courts, the public and history have shown us that these bans are discriminatory in nature,” the Democrat said.

In his first term, Trump barred travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries from coming to the U.S. in 2017.

It was then repealed by former President Joe Biden in 2021.