Tip Sheets
Travel ban: “Even if this expansion is legal, it is not good policy,” says Cornell Law scholar
June 5, 2025
Media Contact
Damien Sharp
President Trump issued a new travel ban last night slated to go into effect June 9. The ban fully restricts the entry of individuals from 12 countries: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. It also partially restricts the entry of travelers from seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
Stephen Yale-Loehr is an immigration attorney and scholar at Cornell Law School. He says court challenges to the ban are likely but may fail.
Stephen Yale-Loehr
Professor of immigration law
“Court challenges to this travel ban are likely, but they may fail. In 2018, the Supreme Court narrowly upheld President Trump’s prior travel ban, holding that presidents have wide discretion on immigration and national security issues. The Trump administration claims this order is aimed at bolstering national security. Also, this proclamation exempts several categories of people, such as green card holders, people already in the United States, and athletes from the affected countries competing in international competitions like the Olympics. For those reasons, courts are likely to uphold this travel ban.
“Even if this expansion is legal, it is not good policy. The travel ban affects not only foreigners but U.S. citizens. Families will be separated because of this travel ban. We are not necessarily safer by banning immigrants from these countries.”
