President Trump is inviting what could be an expansive, lengthy legal battle in the courts after announcing travel restrictions on 19 countries Wednesday night. Effective Monday, citizens of 12 countries will not be allowed to enter the United States, with some exceptions, while seven other countries will face “partial” restrictions. 

The president says the antisemitic attack at Boulder, Colorado, has made it necessary to severely restrict the entry of citizens of certain foreign countries. The move is reminiscent of his first term 90-day ban on individuals from seven Muslim-majority countries coming to the United States, which resulted in a legal fight that lasted for almost the entirety of his first term. 

“The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas. We don’t want ‘em,” the president said in a video message Wednesday night. 

Seated behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, the president specifically mentioned his first term travel restrictions, calling them a great success. 

“In my first term, my powerful travel restrictions were one of our most successful policies and they were a key part of preventing major foreign terror attacks on American soil,” he said. “We will not let what happened in Europe happen to America.”

“Very simply, we cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen those who seek to enter the United States,” the president added. He says the countries that will soon be affected by the travel restrictions do not do an adequate job in keeping criminal histories of their citizens, or their citizens have “persistently” high rates of overstaying visas in America, among other things. 

The 12 countries that will face an outright ban on Monday are Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. The seven foreign nations that will see travel to the United States by their citizens partially restricted are Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

Those “partial restrictions” have a country-by-country definition based on the president’s order, with each nation having only certain visas stripped from them based on the prevalence of the use of those visas by foreign citizens for overstaying and illegally remaining in the United States. 

These countries do have a chance, however, to change course. Mr. Trump said in his video message that nations can get themselves off the current list if “material improvements” are made to address his demands. He added that countries can be added to the list, as well. 

The restrictions on travel could result in a litany of legal challenges, both from states and from outside advocacy groups. Such legal battles took place shortly after Mr. Trump instituted a travel ban on seven countries just one week after his first inauguration. 

In his proclamation announcing the new travel restrictions, Mr. Trump cites Trump v. Hawaii, a 2018 Supreme Court decision that affirmed his power to restrict entry of foreign nationals, which was instituted as part of his “Muslim ban” from one year earlier. Chief Justice Roberts, in the decision, said the restrictions were consistent with both immigration law and presidential authority to protect the national security interests of the United States.