President Donald Trump’s travel ban on 12 countries is set to go into effect next Monday, affecting the largest Somali population in the country, which resettled in Minnesota.

The list of banned countries is: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

There will also be heightened restrictions on visitors from seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. 

President Trump explained that the ban is due to countries lacking the screening and vetting of their citizens. His findings rely on an annual homeland security report of visa overstays in the U.S.

Advocates said it feels like a collective punishment.

“We’re a society that is family oriented, so it is very difficult for our communities,” Yusuf Abdulle, a Minnesotan, said.

In the Somali community, family bonds stretch thousands of miles.

“It’s important to us. That connection can never be stopped and should never be interrupted,” Abdulle said.

Abdulle fears that could be their new normal as the Trump administration rolls out the new travel ban. The ban fully suspends immigrants and non-immigrant visas for citizens of those 12 countries.

Abdulle has dual citizenship in the U.S. and in Somalia, but he says this policy puts family reunification on hold.

“I know people who are actively trying to bring their families here and in the process, so it is going to impact them greatly,” Abdulle said.

The Minnesota Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned the order, calling the justification of national security false.

“We think it’s a racist and discriminatory ban that targets obviously predominantly Muslim and African countries and add to other countries as well that are marginalized,” Jaylani Hussein, CAIR-MN executive director, said.

Somali leaders explained that students are now facing cancelled opportunities, refugees seeking safety are being shut out and thousands of families will be separated.

“Family connection ties means a lot more when the nation that your family’s at is still struggling,” Hussein said.

The Twin Cities-based Center for Victims of Torture works with Somali refugees in St. Cloud. One of the social workers said in a statement the number one priority with clients is reunifying with their children or their spouse.

Full statement from Jill Davidson, MSW, LICSW Targeted Case Management Supervisor and Social Worker at the Center for Victims of Torture:

“Every day I work with clients who survived torture in their home countries, including Somalia and other countries that are listed on the president’s new travel ban. My clients fled for their lives from their home countries. They had to leave everything, and everyone, behind. So for most clients, their number one priority is reunifying with their children, with their spouse. I’ve had clients who had to leave behind pregnant wives. A woman from Somalia left her teenaged children behind in a refugee camp because there was no one to care for them. It is hard to describe the pain caused by this separation from family, what it means for a parent not to be there to take care of children. My clients work on their asylum cases for many, many years to even be considered. Then it takes many, many more years for any family member to be approved to come and join them. Now, to see their home country on this banned list – it takes away that tiny bit of hope. When that goes away, what is left?“

This is not the first travel ban on Somalia by the Trump administration. In 2017, he rolled out a similar policy, but this one is expanded.

The new list of partial restrictions, including Laos, will also impact the Hmong community in Minnesota.