Trump curbs immigrants from 6 nations
Critics slam new restrictions as new Muslim ban
WASHINGTON, Feb 1, (AP): The Trump administration announced Friday that it was restricting immigrants from six additional countries that officials said failed to meet minimum security standards, as part of an election-year push to further clamp down immigration.
Officials said immigrants from Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Eritrea, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania will face new restrictions in obtaining certain visas to come to the United States. But it is not a total travel ban, unlike President Donald Trump’s earlier effort that generated outrage around the world for targeting Muslims.
Trump signed a proclamation on the restrictions Friday; they go into effect Feb. 21
The announcement came as Trump tries to promote his crackdown on immigration, highlighting a signature issue that motivated supporters in 2016 and hoping it has the same effect this November. The administration recently announced birth tourism restrictions, is touting the sharp decline in crossings at the US-Mexico border and citing progress on building the border wall.
“It is fundamental to national security, and the height of common sense, that if a foreign nation wishes to receive the benefits of immigration and travel to the United States, it must satisfy basic security conditions outlined by America’s law enforcement and intelligence professionals,” the White House said in a statement.
Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Eritrea and Nigeria would have all immigrant visas suspended; those are applicants seeking to live in the US permanently. They include visas for people sponsored by family members or employers as well as the diversity visa program that made up to 55,000 visas available in the most recent lottery. In December, for example, 40,666 immigrant visas were granted worldwide.
Sudan and Tanzania will have diversity visas suspended. The State Department uses a computer drawing to select people from around the world for up to 55,000 diversity visas. Nigeria is already excluded from the lottery
can do it, for one.”
“That’s not our experience from 2016,” Clinton said.
Clinton’s comments come just before Monday’s first-in-the-nation caucuses in Iowa, where Sanders is bunched at the top of the polls with former Vice-President Joe Biden, Massachusetts Sen Elizabeth Warren and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. The remarks are yet another reminder of the lasting scars of the the brutal 2016 primary battle between Sanders, whose along with other countries that had more than 50,000 natives immigrate to the US in the previous five years.
Nonimmigrant visas were not affected - awarded to those traveling to the US for a temporary stay. They include visas for tourists, those doing business or people seeking medical treatment. During December, for example, about 650,760 nonimmigrant visas were granted worldwide.
The new restrictions were swiftly met with criticism from immigrant advocates who slammed them as a new Muslim ban.
Sudan and Kyrgyzstan are majorityMuslim countries. Nigeria, the seventh-most populous nation in the world with more than 200 million people, is about evenly split between Christians and Muslims but has the world’s fifthlargest population of Muslims, according to the Pew Research Center.
Restrictions
Omar Jadwat, director of the American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants’ Rights Project, said the previous visa restrictions should not be expanded.
“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 color,” he said. “Families, universities, and businesses in the United States are paying an ever-higher price for President Trump’s ignorance and racism.”
Nigeria has nothing in common with the other nations, said David Olowokere, chairman of the engineering technologies department at Texas Southern University in Houston. The Nigerian economy is Africa’s largest, with a 2019 gross domestic product of almost $445 billion.
“You can’t develop as rapidly as Nigeria without having some growth problems,” said the Nigerian-born professor. “But you can’t put Nigeria in the same category as those other countries.
“I can tell you that any Nigerian would think that this does not make any sense,” Olowokere said.
Rumors swirled for weeks about a potential new ban, and initially Belarus
supporters believe the contest was rigged in Clinton’s favor, and Clinton, who has begrudged Sanders for not supporting her candidacy quickly enough after she clinched the nomination. Sanders was unable to campaign in Iowa on Friday because of the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump in the Senate. But at an evening rally in Clive, Iowa, one of his highest profile supporters, Michigan Rep Rashida Tlaib, led the crowd in booing Clinton.
At the first mention of Clinton’s name, was considered. But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was headed to the Eastern European nation as the restrictions were announced, and Belarus was not on the list.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said Homeland Security officials would work with the countries on bolstering their security requirements to help them work to get off the list. Wolf said some nations were able to comply with the new standards in time.
“These countries for the most part want to be helpful, they want to do the right thing, they have relationships with the US, but for a variety of different reasons failed to meet those minimum requirements,” Wolf said.
The current restrictions follow Trump’s travel ban, which the Supreme Court upheld as lawful in 2018. They are significantly softer than Trump’s initial ban, which had suspended travel from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen for 90 days, blocked refugee admissions for 120 days, and suspended travel from Syria. The government suspended most immigrant and nonimmigrant visas to applicants from those countries. Exceptions are available for students and those with “significant contacts” in the US.
Trump has said a travel ban is necessary to protect Americans. But opponents have argued that he seeks to target Muslim countries, pointing to comments he made as a candidate in 2015 calling for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”
The seven countries in the ban include nations with little or no diplomatic relationship to the US and five majority-Muslim nations: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.
Wolf said immigrant visas were chosen because people with those visa are the most difficult to remove after arriving in the United States.
The initial ban was immediately blocked by the courts and led to a months long process to develop clear standards and federal review processes to try to withstand legal muster.
some in the crowd began booing, prompting the moderator to say, “We’re not going to boo. We’re classy” But Tlaib interjected: “No. I’ll boo. Booooo!” That drew laughter and louder boos from the audience.” (AP)
SUV breaches security:
Law enforcement agents opened fire on an SUV driver who smashed through two security checkpoints at Mar-a-Lago on Friday in what authorities described as the actions of “an obviously impaired” driver but not an intentional attack on President Donald Trump’s resort.
The driver, Hannah Roemhild, 30, from Connecticut, was later arrested at a nearby motel. No one was injured, authorities said, and Trump was not at the Palm Beach resort at the time, although he was scheduled to arrive there later in the day.
Roemhild was not at any time “even remotely close” to getting into the “inner perimeter” of the president’s resort, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said at a news conference.
He said Roemhild, “obviously impaired,” was dancing on top of her vehicle when an off-duty Florida Highway Patrol officer who was working private security at the Breakers hotel first approached her.
Roemhild jumped into the SUV and refused to open the window or acknowledge the officer, Bradshaw said. She then put the car in reverse and began driving away. The trooper smashed the window and tried to grab the steering wheel, but was unable to stop her, the sheriff said. (AP)