‘Travel ban’ expanded to six more countries
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump marked the roughly thirdyear anniversary of his controversial “travel ban” on Friday by adding six African, Central and East Asian countries to the list of those whose nationals face restrictions on travel to the United States.
The Homeland Security and State departments announced the administration is now including Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Eritrea, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania. More than 80% of those potentially impacted by the new ban are from the latter four African countries, according to America’s Voice, an organization advocating for immigration reform.
Administration officials said Friday that the measure would not necessarily block all citizens of those nations from entering the United States, impacting only “limited categories” of travelers with a range of restrictions. The State Department has put increasing pressure on countries it deems “recalcitrant” for not adopting electronic passports with biometric data and agreeing to certain information-sharing with the United States.
Trump was set to sign a proclamation making the expanded group official on Friday, but the new restrictions won’t take effect until Feb. 22, officials said.
Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado, the son of Eritrean refugees who came to the United States nearly 40 years ago, criticized the decision on Friday.
Two years ago, in January 2018, Neguse saw his daughter for the first time, on an ultrasound. That same day, Neguse, who was then running for Congress, heard reports that Trump had called African nations “s***hole countries,” asking why the United States couldn’t give preference to those from majority-white countries, such as Norway. Neguse said he worried his daughter would face discrimination, worsened by the rhetoric coming out of the White House.
“Would she be able to live her dream in the same way I and my parents had been able to, in light of the president’s discriminatory attitudes toward certain people, and the way those attitudes have been reflected in public policy?” recalled Neguse, who was elected in 2018, when Democrats took control of the House.
Trump confirmed plans to broaden the ban at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week, saying, “We’re adding a couple of countries to it. We have to be safe.”
Neither the president nor Homeland Security and State Department officials have detailed any specific threats to U.S. security posed by travelers from these nations.
The White House had intended to expand the ban on Monday, to coincide with the anniversary of the original ban, enacted a week after Trump took office. The initial order targeted seven Muslim-majority countries and was met by nationwide protests at airports, chaos at the Homeland Security department, and lawsuits that ultimately forced the administration to modify the measure.
In June 2018, the Supreme Court allowed a third version of the order to take effect, restricting entry from many citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela and North Korea, while removing Chad from the list. The country made “improvements” in security precautions, officials said.