Thursday, 5 June 2025

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) condemns the recent introduction of a racist, and xenophobic travel ban by United States President Donald Trump, which targets 19 countries, the majority of them African. This executive order, dripping with the same racist paranoia that has fuelled violent immigration policies in the U.S for decades, represents an attack on the Global South.

Trump’s justification for this ban alleging that foreign nationals from the affected countries are inherently dangerous is nothing more than recycled white supremacist propaganda. This is the same logic that has led to the vilification of Black South Africans under the false accusation of “white genocide,” the same logic that sees Africans as threats simply by virtue of their existence.

The ban, which prohibits all travel to the U.S. from countries including Afghanistan, Iran, Chad, Somalia, Eritrea, and Sudan, is an expression of Western hypocrisy. Many of these nations have suffered immensely from U.S.-led wars, sanctions, and covert interventions. From the destruction of Libya to the destabilisation of Yemen, these countries are not exporting terror, they are victims of American and Western imperialism. What the U.S. calls terrorism is often a desperate response to decades of military occupation, economic strangulation, and violent regime change.

Nations like Cuba and Venezuela, which have been targeted for their sovereign decision to follow socialist paths, continue to suffer under sanctions and blockades. Now, they are once again punished, this time through discriminatory immigration policy, for daring to resist U.S. hegemony.

While the ban exempts athletes attending the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, this exemption only confirms the moral bankruptcy of the U.S. You cannot call for the world to unite in sport and peace on the one hand, while enacting foreign policy rooted in racism and exclusion on the other.

We therefore call on FIFA, the International Olympic Committee, and all global sporting federations to reject the U.S as a host country. It is not safe for foreigners, especially people from the Global South and its immigration enforcement is a form of statesanctioned terrorism. International sport must not legitimise or reward regimes that criminalise migration and institutionalise white supremacy.

The EFF stands in solidarity with all the nations targeted by this travel ban, and with all oppressed peoples resisting U.S. imperialism.

ISSUED BY ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Sinawo Thambo (National Spokesperson) 072 629 7422

Thembi Msane (National Spokesperson) 061 467 8169

Andiswa Madikazi (Parliament Media Liason) 069 516 4924

Thato Lebyane (Media Inquiries) 078 563 1581