Donald Trump took his war on immigrants up a notch on Wednesday night, issuing an executive order barring nationals from 12 different countries from entering the United States, and another denying visas to any foreign students trying to enter the U.S. to attend Harvard University.
The president posted a video to Truth Social on Wednesday explaining the travel ban, asserting that the recent 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 have come here as temporary visitors and overstayed their visas.”
“We don’t want them,” Trump said, noting that there are “millions and millions of these illegals who should not be in our country.”
The attack in Boulder was carried out by an Egyptian national who the administration says overstayed their visa. Egypt is not mentioned in the executive order.
The travel ban affects Afghanistan, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. The order cites “national security and the national interests” of the nation, as well as the need to protect America from “foreign terrorists.” Trump is also partially restricting the entry of nationals from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
Trump attempted to impose travel bans during his first term in office, but they were blocked by the courts. He vowed in the run-up to his run to take back the White House that he would bring a travel ban back “even bigger and much stronger than before.”
Trump has also ratcheted up his war on the nation’s most prestigious higher-education institution, signing an order barring foreign students from entering the U.S. to attend Harvard. The order, titled, “Enhancing National Security by Addressing Risks at Harvard University,” deems that Harvard is “no longer a trustworthy steward of international student and exchange visitor programs.”
The administration has been doing everything it can to hamstring the university — including freezing billions in federal grants — alleging that it hasn’t done enough to crack down on antisemitism as students have protested the war in Gaza. Harvard has fought back, most recently in a lawsuit last week over the administration’s move to restrict the school from enrolling international students. A federal judge quickly blocked the effort.
The school did not take kindly to Trump’s order on Wednesday night, either. “This is yet another illegal retaliatory step taken by the Administration in violation of Harvard’s First Amendment rights,” a spokesperson for the school said in a statement. “Harvard will continue to protect its international students.”
Harvard has shown it is willing to take Trump to court over the administration’s actions. The courts have been mixed on the president’s immigration agenda, although multiple federal judges have blocked the push to deport immigrants without due process. The Supreme Court ruled last week that the administration can revoke the temporary protected status of over 500,000 immigrants, making them subject to deportation.
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