Several news agencies report that the White House is preparing a new travel ban, preventing citizens from certain countries from coming into the United States. The ban would revive one of the more controversial policies of the previous Trump administration.

The upcoming ban is expected to be issued within the next two weeks. It follows up on one of President Donald Trump’s many executive orders from January 20, his first day in office. The order, “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Others,” claimed it was meant to protect Americans from “aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes.”

The order called on several top cabinet officials — Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — to compose a list of countries that the United States would place on a ban list, restricting citizens from those countries from entering the country, USA Today reported. Critics warn that the policy could disrupt international relations and lead to retaliation against Americans abroad. Democratic Illinois Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he sent a letter to Trump urging him to drop the new travel ban, which will reportedly include Afghanistan, saying that “such a ban could abandon thousands of people in Afghanistan facing Taliban reprisals for helping American service members.”

Revival of controversial ‘Muslim ban’ policies with new countries, categories

The new ban follows up on one of the more controversial policies of the first Trump administration. The initial travel ban issued by Trump prevented entry into the U.S. by people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The choice of Islamic countries led to the policy being called a “Muslim ban” by critics, but the Supreme Court upheld the policy. The ban was eventually altered to drop Sudan and add Chad, a U.S. ally, as well as Cuba, North Korea and Venezuela, countries with communist or socialist governments that have had hostile relations with the U.S.

The New York Times reported that the new ban would include three levels of restrictions. Countries on a ‘red’ list will face a total ban on citizens entering the U.S. That list will reportedly include Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen, most of the countries previously banned while adding Afghanistan to the list. Countries placed on an ‘orange’ list will not be entirely prohibited. Still, visas for their citizens may be restricted to certain types of visitors, such as the wealthy or those with business interests, and the length of visas may be shortened. U.S. ally Pakistan could be placed on this list. Finally, a ‘yellow’ list may also be issued; countries on this list will be called to make policy changes or end up on one of the more restrictive lists if they don’t comply.

The first set of travel bans disrupted the lives of thousands of people planning to come to the United States and potentially impacted millions more. Despite the hardships and accusations of prejudice, Trump stuck with the policy, backed by the Supreme Court. Given the extensive use of executive power during his current term, Trump will likely put an even more restrictive travel policy in place.