WASHINGTON – In a video citing the recent firebombing attack in Boulder, Colorado, President Donald Trump announced travel constraints Wednesday on citizens from a total of 19 countries — a move that has already drawn rebuke from some aid organizations, legal groups and international leaders.

The entry ban will apply to citizens from 12 countries: Afghanistan, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. An additional seven countries will have partial restrictions on travel to the U.S.: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. 

The order carves out exceptions, including for green card holders, dual citizens, people who were granted asylum before the ban took effect, those applying for visas in connection to American spouses, children or parents as well as some athletes and coaches traveling to major sporting events.

“The list is subject to revision based on whether material improvements are made,” Trump added in the video. “And likewise, new countries can be added as threats emerge around the world.”

Robyn Barnard, Human Rights First’s senior director of refugee advocacy, said she expects “a lot of confusion and chaos” in the coming days and weeks after the order is implemented Monday. 

“We are certainly gearing up to monitor what's occurring at U.S. airports and abroad,” she said. 

The international advocacy organization works with people from most of the countries included in the president’s executive order, including thousands of Afghans since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

“It's very hard as an attorney and an advocate to quickly parse what is in the proclamation and try and figure out exactly what to tell people and how to quell some of their anxiety and fear,” she said. 

Barnard noted that Afghans who worked with or for the U.S. government and have special immigrant visas are exempt from the ban.

“However, it doesn’t exempt other at-risk Afghans,” she said. “So that means people like women and girls, who are facing some of the harshest treatment under this Taliban regime; teachers; human rights defenders; members of the former government — all who work to advance the U.S. mission of establishing a democratic Afghanistan. They're now all stranded and left shut out by this travel ban.”

Barnard contended that the inclusion of Afghanistan because of what the White House described as its lack of “a competent or cooperative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents” contradicted the reasoning the administration gave for terminating Temporary Protective Status earlier this month. At the time, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the country had “an improved security situation” and “stabilizing economy.”

Barnard also said the travel ban from Haiti detailed in the executive order was not surprising but was “outrageous” given the dire humanitarian situation in the country.

She urged Congress to take steps to block the restrictions  such as reviving the No Ban Act.

“There's a lot of fear,” she said. “Generally it's been that way since the start of this administration, and with each new action that they take, I think it just adds and compounds that uncertainty and fear in the communities. We do our best to cut through some of the noise and the rhetoric.”

The African Union Commission warned that the ban on travel from seven of its countries and restrictions on an three others could negatively impact diplomatic relations between the U.S. and its member nations. 

“While recognising the sovereign right of all nations to protect their borders and ensure the security of their citizens, the African Union Commission respectfully appeals to the United States to exercise this right in a manner that is balanced, evidence-based, and reflective of  the long-standing partnership between the United States and Africa,” the commission said in a statement. 

Meanwhile, the head of Cuba’s Mission in the U.S. also cautioned of repercussions. 

“Cuba is not a country that sponsors terrorism, and the U.S. knows it,” Cuban ambassador Lianys Torres Rivera posted on social media. “The announced entry restrictions will, once again, harm Cuban families and the cultural, academic, scientific, and sports exchanges that are in the best interest of the peoples of both countries."

The travel restrictions are expected to face legal challenges — with several groups already threatening to take the Trump administration to court within hours of the announcement.

Legal Aid Society in New York noted that attorneys mobilized in 2017 in response to the president’s travel ban and that it was “ready to fight again.” Monday's announcement echoed constraints the president put in place in 2017, banning travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

“This policy is a transparent attempt to scapegoat immigrants,” the organization said in a statement. “It will devastate our clients who have followed the rules to reunite with their families, as well as deny refuge to those fleeing persecution and upend the lives of individuals who contribute meaningfully to our society. It undermines fundamental American values of due process, fairness, and inclusion.”

Husein Yatabarry, the executive director of the New York-based Muslim Community Network, called the new policies “scapegoating.”

“Our communities have endured bans, surveillance, and suspicion before—and we will rise again," Yatabarry said in a statement. "We will organize, resist, and protect our neighbors. This order will not go unchallenged."

“I hope that we'll see some legal challenges given just how devastating of an impact this will have on many vulnerable people,” Barnard said.