Trump travel ban live: President accused of ‘bigotry’ after banning citizens of 12 countries from the US

The African Union has called for the White House to employ a more “consultative approach” after a number of its countries were hit by Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban.

It expressed the potential negative impact of the new travel ban on educational exchanges, commercial engagement and broader diplomatic relations.

“The African Union Commission respectfully calls upon the U.S. administration to consider adopting a more consultative approach and to engage in constructive dialogue with the countries concerned,” it said in a statement.

Venezuela has hit back forcefully to the partial travel ban imposed by Donald Trump.

The South American country’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, a close ally of President Nicolas Maduro, responded on Wednesday evening by describing the U.S. government as fascist and warning Venezuelans of being in the U.S.

“The truth is being in the United States is a big risk for anybody, not just for Venezuelans … They persecute our countrymen, our people for no reason,” he added.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers made the largest number of arrests in a single day on Tuesday this week, detaining more than 2,200 people according to reports.

Some of those arrested were detained after being asked to attend their scheduled ICE check-ins early, immigration lawyers told NBC News.

Three separate sources told the news outlet that hundreds of the people who were arrested had been in ICE’s Alternative to Detention program.

In that program, undocumented migrants who are not deemed a public safety threat are released but monitored through periodic check-ins, smartphone apps and ankle monitors.

Veronica Navarrete, who was waiting for a friend outside an immigration office on Wednesday, told NBC that immigrants had no options here.

“If you enter, there’s a possibility that they’ll take you into custody,” she said. “And if you don’t enter, you’ve missed your appointment, and that’s automatic deportation. We have no way out.”

Democrats have spoken out against the travel ban announced by President Donald Trump, criticising it as a “racist policy”.

Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar slammed the “discriminatory policy” as “beyond shameful” on social media.

“Just like his first Muslim Ban, this latest announcement flies in the face of basic morality and goes directly against our values,” she said on social media. “This racist policy will not make us safe, it will separate families and endanger lives. We cannot let it stand.”

New York Rep. Nydia Velazquez echoed Omar’s comments, adding Americans must “defend what’s right”.

“Trump’s new travel ban has nothing to do with safety & everything to do with shutting people out & isolating the US,” she wrote on X. “Just like in 2017, it’s discriminatory & wrong.”

Trump’s travel ban will only “isolate” the U.S. on the world stage and “flies in the face of what our country is supposed to stand for”, a democratic congresswoman has said.

Pramila Jayapal, who represents most of Seattle, said the policy “not only lays the blame in the wrong place, it creates a dangerous precedent”.

Banning people fleeing from dangerous countries such as Afghanistan, the Congo, Haiti and Sudan will “only further destabilize global security”, she added.

“Trump is indiscriminately taking a chainsaw to our government – destroying federal agencies that keep us safe, indiscriminately cutting jobs, and hindering our progress across research fields.”

In the wake of the Colorado terror attack, in which an Egyptian national who had overstayed his visa allegedly set fire to pro-Israel demonstrators, Donald Trump has suggested Egypt could be next on the travel ban list.

On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security announced that ICE agents had taken the wife and children of Mohamed Sabry Soliman into custody. This came after police in Boulder, Colorado arrested Soliman for allegedly throwing molotov cocktails at a peaceful demonstration for Israeli hostages on Sunday.

Trump warned during the Truth Social address that he directed his top national security chiefs to investigate whether Egypt should be added to the list.

“In light of recent events, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence, shall provide me an update to the review of the practices and procedures of Egypt to confirm the adequacy of its current screening and vetting capabilities,” Trump said.

Democratic Senator Adam Schiff has hit out at Donald Trump’s travel ban for what he describes as a bigoted national security police.

“This is Trump’s reckless first term travel ban all over again,” Schiff wrote on X.

“Just like before, Trump’s expanded ban on travelers from around the world will not improve our national security and will only further isolate the U.S. from the rest of world. Bigotry is not a national security strategy,” he added.

The travel ban imposed by Donald Trump is recalls the previous ‘Muslim ban’ which the U.S. president brought into place during his first administration.

Executive Order 13769, the first such ban, was signed just days after Trump took power in January 2017, and placed a 90-day ban on travel for people from seven majority-Muslim countries.

These included Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The first bans lasted for 90 days and were repeatedly challenged in the courts.

The administration also placed a reverse travel ban on North Korea, preventing U.S. citizens from visiting the country.

The bans were all revoked in a proclamation by Joe Biden immediately after assuming the presidency in 2021.

We’ve got some more reaction in to Donald Trump’s travel ban, which has sparked outrage among rights organisations worldwide.

Oxfam has described the ban as a “chilling return to policies of fear, discrimination, and division” and accuse Trump of targeting Muslim-majority countries and other nations with Black and brown populations.

The policy “deepens inequality and perpetuates harmful stereotypes, racist tropes, and religious intolerance”, Oxfam said, adding that it is not about national security but “sowing division and vilifying communities that are seeking safety and opportunity in the United States”.

Oxfam added: “This latest travel ban would deny entry to individuals and families fleeing war, persecution, and oppression, forcing them to remain in dangerous conditions. It will prevent family reunifications and America’s historical legacy as a welcoming nation will be further eroded.”