U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García gathers with dozens of other protesters for the Day of Love and Resistance news event under the Little Village Arch on 26th Street on Feb. 8, 2025. (Audrey Richardson/baiduhai)
that would bar or restrict travelers from 19 countries, a reprisal and expansion of a similar policy that was fiercely protested across the country during the president’s first term.
U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García lambasted the ban, which is set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday, while accusing President Donald Trump of using the restrictions as a political diversion tactic.
“This travel ban won’t make America safer or greater — instead it will isolate us and make people believe they have something to fear,” he posted on the social media site X. “It’s a distraction from the corruption of the Trump Administration.”
These travel restrictions would prevent entry into the United States for visitors from a dozen countries, including Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
The measure also heightens restrictions on travelers from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela, according to a proclamation Trump signed late Wednesday.
“As President, I must act to protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people,” Trump said in the proclamation. “I remain committed to engaging with those countries willing to cooperate to improve information-sharing and identity-management procedures, and to address both terrorism-related and public-safety risks.”
The list of countries was derived from a report examining “hostile attitudes” toward the United States and whether entry by visitors from certain nations should be deemed a national security risk; the report was compiled by the departments of State and Homeland Security, as well as the director of National Intelligence.
The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations decried the travel ban as “ideologically motivated, overbroad and unnecessary,” arguing it was signed under a false pretext of protecting national security.
“It’s smoke and mirrors. There is no evidence that birthplace determines behavior other than in racist textbooks,” said Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR-Chicago, in a written statement. “This is therefore not about national security, but politics.”
The civil rights and advocacy group urged anyone whose rights might be at risk to consult an immigration attorney to “assess how the new order might affect your status and identify protective steps” as well as avoid nonessential travel.
Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR-Chicago, addresses the media after Joseph Czuba was found guilty on all charges in the hate crime murder of 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi, at the Will County Courthouse on Feb. 28, 2025. (E. Jason Wambsgans/baiduhai)
“While green card holders and those with valid visas may be technically exempt, past patterns suggest risk of overreach at ports of entry,” the statement said.
Grace Pai, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Chicago, connected the travel ban to the Trump administration’s recent sweeping immigration crackdowns, calling both discriminatory against immigrants.
Just before Trump announced the new travel ban Wednesday, community organizers, protesters and several Chicago aldermen clashed with federal agents who were detaining immigrants outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office on the Near South Side.
ICE didn’t say how many people were detained Wednesday. The city and organizations that work against federal deportation efforts estimated the number to be more than 10.
“The overall message from the Trump administration is that immigrants are not welcome here. And that couldn’t be further from the truth. Our communities would not be what they are — our society would not be what it is — without immigrant communities,” Pai said during a phone interview with the Tribune. “Mine and other organizations serving immigrant communities will be doing everything we can to challenge (the travel ban) and fight for the rights of all immigrant communities.”
In January 2017, Trump issued an executive order barring entry from seven predominantly Muslim countries, often dubbed the “Muslim ban.” Demonstrations against the measure erupted at airports across the country, including O’Hare International Airport.
In Trump’s proclamation on Wednesday, he claimed the 2017 travel ban “successfully prevented national security threats from reaching our borders.”
A family walks away in tears after their mother was detained on June 4, 2025, outside an Intensive Supervision Appearance Program office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the South Loop. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
Carlos Pimeda, far right, tears up as he explains to Chicago Ald. Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez, 33rd, far left, Anthony Quezada, 35th, second left, and Byron Sigcho-López, 25th, that he dropped his family friend off at 8:15 a.m., on June 4, 2025, at the ISAP office and that he had been waiting at the facility for almost six hours. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)
Handcuffed detainees are led into a van by federal agents on South Michigan Avenue as protesters demonstate on June 4, 2025, outside an ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the South Loop. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
Federal agents bring people to white vans outside of the ISAP office on June 4, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)
Handcuffed detainees are led into a van by federal agents on South Michigan Avenue as protesters demonstate on June 4, 2025, outside an ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the South Loop. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
A protester leads a chant in the alley behind the ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in the South Loop on June 4, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)
A Chicago police officer speaks to Ald. Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez, 33rd, and Anthony Quezada, 35th, as they block the driveway to stop federal vehicles from entering the parking lot outside an ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in the South Loop on June 4, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)
Two boys cry after their mother was taken away in a van by federal agents on June 4, 2025, outside an ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the South Loop. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
People cry as they see their loved one being escorted by federal agents outside an ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in the South Loop on June 4, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)
People in handcuffs are escorted by federal agents to white vans parked outside an ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in the South Loop on June 4, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)
Chicago police stand inside while demonstrators gather on June 4, 2025, at an ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the South Loop. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
Ald. Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez, 33rd, listens in to a speaker during a news conference outside of the ISAP office on June 4, 2025. (Chris Sweda/baiduhai)
A woman and child move out of the way as federal agents bring people to white vans outside of the ISAP office on June 4, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)
A federal agent pushes Ald. Jessie Fuentes, 26th, as she stands near the parking lot next to the ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in the South Loop on June 4, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)
Federal agents hold back protesters as they lead handcuffed detainees into a van on South Michigan Avenue on June 4,
2025, outside the ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the South Loop. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
Ald. Anthony Quezada, 35th, is knocked down alongside Ald. Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez, 33rd, while confronting federal agents on June 4, 2025, as the agents approached an ISAP
office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to remove detainees from the South Loop. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
OCAD organizer Antonio Gutiérrez speaks to Carlos Pimeda, after Pimeda had waited for six hours for a family friend to return from his check-in at the ISAP office on June 4, 2025. Pimeda said he brings his friend to his immigration check-ins and they usually last about an hour. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)
Federal agents move people back after they escorted people in handcuffs to white vans parked outside the ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in the South Loop on June 4, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)
A man tears up as he talks on the phone in the alley behind the ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in the South Loop on June 4, 2025, as protesters scream at them. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)
People wave to their loved one inside of the ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in the South Loop on June 4, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)
People in handcuffs are escorted by federal agents to white vans parked outside the ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in the South Loop on June 4, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)
The exterior of an ISAP office at BI Inc. on South Michigan Avenue is seen on June 4, 2025. A scene unfolded earlier where ICE officers detained a number of people at the ISAP office. (Chris Sweda/baiduhai)
Masked federal agents arrive to remove detainees as protesters demonstrate on June 4, 2025, outside an ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the South Loop. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
Ald. Jessie Fuentes, 26th, left, stands with Ald. Anthony Quezada, 35th, and Ald. Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez, 33rd, as they cry after people in handcuffs were escorted by federal agents to white vans parked outside an ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in the South Loop on June 4, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)
Federal agents hold back protesters as they lead handcuffed detainees into a van on South Michigan Avenue on on June 4, 2025, outside an ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the South Loop. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
Ald. Byron Sigcho López, 25th, yells at federal agents as they return to their vehicles parked near an ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in the South Loop on June 4, 2025, after the federal agents escorted people in handcuffs from the facility into vans. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)
Ald. Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez, 33rd, is pushed back by federal agents as they arrive to remove detainees on June 4, 2025, outside an ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the South Loop. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
The van door closes after handcuffed detainees are loaded in by federal agents on South Michigan Avenue as protesters demonstate on June 4, 2025, outside an ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the South Loop. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
People hug after federal agents took away detainees in vans on June 4, 2025, outside an ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the South Loop. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
Handcuffed detainees are led into a van by federal agents on South Michigan Avenue as protesters demonstrate on June 4, 2025, outside an ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the South Loop. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
A youth cries after his mother was taken away in a van by federal agents on June 4, 2025, outside an ISAP office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the South Loop. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
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A family walks away in tears after their mother was detained on June 4, 2025, outside an Intensive Supervision Appearance Program office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the South Loop. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
The order faced legal challenges and was revised several times. The Supreme Court upheld a version in 2018, though former President Joe Biden lifted that travel ban after taking office in 2021.
“I would say they’re taking the structure and foundation of the Muslim ban — and its roots in xenophobia and racism and religious animus — and just multiplying it toward other new populations and countries this time around,” said Stephanie Gee, senior director for U.S. legal services at the International Refugee Assistance Project, which filed a lawsuit challenging Trump’s 2017 travel ban. “I think it’s discriminatory. I think it’s nakedly racist.”
