Cato Expert on Trump Travel Ban

“President Trump announced that he’s banning almost all travel and immigration from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen for “terrorism-related and public-safety risks.” There are some exceptions for adoptions, immediate family members of US citizens, and a handful of other visas. A single terrorist from those countries murdered one person in an attack on US soil: Emanuel Kidega Samson from Sudan, who committed an attack motivated by anti-white animus in 2017. The annual chance of being murdered by a terrorist from one of the banned countries from 1975 to the end of 2024 was about 1 in 13.9 billion per year.

The United States government has a responsibility to keep terrorists and criminals out of the country and to remove those who make it through. However, the government should pursue a rational and evidence-based approach when evaluating the threat posed by foreign nationals. Otherwise, the government is wasting resources and impeding peaceful and voluntary exchange for no purpose. The Trump administration has banned large swaths of travelers and immigrants from many countries based on evidence that it likely won’t release and, if it does, will likely raise more questions than answers. The threat of foreign-born terrorism and crime is manageable and small, especially from the countries facing new bans and restrictions by the administration.”