Six new nations set to face visa restrictions
>>WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Friday slapped immigration restrictions on citizens of six countries including Nigeria, in addition to the list of nations already targeted by his controversial travel ban.
Besides Africa’s most populous nation, the new measures also pertain to Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan and Tanzania, officials said.
“The president’s decision is the product of a comprehensive and systematic assessment that was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security, as well as in partnership with other federal agencies,” said one of the officials.
The official added that the decision was the “result of these countries’ unwillingness to adhere to certain baseline identity management, information sharing and national security and public safety assessment criteria that were established by the department in 2017”.
Unlike the travel ban, Mr Trump unveiled in January 2017 shortly after taking office, which banned citizens of certain Muslim-majority countries from entering US territory, the latest directive, which takes effect on Feb 22, was less sweeping.
The official said it would only target certain visa categories and would focus primarily on people seeking to move to the United States rather than those simply aiming to visit.
Mr Trump had announced his intention to lengthen the list of countries last week on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“We have to be safe. Our country has to be safe,” he said.
Mr Trump repeatedly promised during his election campaign to implement a complete ban on Muslims entering the US, and he announced his first package of travel bans and restrictions shortly after taking office in Jan 2017.
The move outraged critics and was struck down by a federal court that ruled the ban amounted to religious discrimination. The administration moved a second version of the policy in March 2017, which was struck down again for similar reasons.
But the third version of the policy was upheld by the US Supreme Court in June 2018 in a 5-4 ruling that affirmed the president had broad power to set immigration policy based on national security justifications.
The countries covered under that version are Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and North Korea, and political officials from Venezuela. The administration argued inclusion of non-Muslim countries proved the policy was not driven by religious animus.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) condemned the new restrictions, saying that the administration was simply “expanding” the ban’s scope.
“President Trump is doubling down on his signature anti-Muslim policy — and using the ban as a way to put even more of his prejudices into practice by excluding more communities of colour,” the ACLU said.