Former President Donald Trump declared his commitment to reimposing a travel ban on countries with ties to terrorism during a campaign event in Iowa. He expressed disappointment that the Biden administration had revoked his previous executive order, which had effectively restricted entry to the United States for individuals from nations like Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen.
Trump affirmed his intention to “immediately reinstate and expand the wildly successful Trump Travel Ban on entry from terror-plagued countries, territories, and places.” He emphasized the ban’s effectiveness in safeguarding national security, explaining that individuals originating from regions with a history of harboring anti-American sentiments and intentions would not be allowed entry.
The former president’s announcement coincided with heightened concerns about potential terrorist threats to the United States. Following a call from the Gaza-based Hamas terror group for a global “day of rage” in response to the Israeli-Gaza conflict, there were growing apprehensions about terrorism. Israel initiated its military operation in reaction to a significant incursion by Hamas terrorists on its territory.
The ongoing surge of migration at the southern border has amplified concerns of terrorist elements infiltrating the United States through this route. Former Trump Deputy National Security Advisor Victoria Coates had previously suggested that such actors might have already entered the country. She pointed to the presence of Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based terror group, in Latin America and its history of carrying out attacks against Jewish targets, including in Argentina.
The Trump campaign outlined additional aspects of the former president’s security plan, including the suspension of refugee resettlement efforts by the State Department and the implementation of “ideological screening” for immigrants. Trump also pledged to deport individuals with “jihadist sympathies,” revoke student visas for “radical anti-American and anti-Semitic foreigners,” and enhance deportation efforts more broadly.
