Trump administration adds six more countries to travel ban
The Trump administration on Friday added six countries to the nations facing stringent travel restrictions, virtually blocking immigration from Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria, and from Myanmar, where refugees are fleeing genocide.
Beside Nigeria, varying degrees of restrictions will hit three other African countries, Eritrea, Sudan, and Tanzania, and one former Soviet state, Kyrgyzstan. Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya could also be affected by the decision. The total number of countries on the restricted travel list now stands at 13.
Immigrant visas, issued mostly to foreigners intending to live in the United States, will be banned from Nigeria, Myanmar, Eritrea, and Kyrgyzstan. The ban would prevent immigrants from Sudan and Tanzania from obtaining diversity visas. Homeland Security and State Department officials said some immigrants would be able to obtain waivers from the restrictions.
The proclamation, which President Donald Trump was expected to sign Friday, will take effect on February 22.
The administration has argued that the ban, enacted in 2017 to restrict travel from Muslim-majority countries, is necessary to ensure that countries satisfy security requirements for travel into the United
States, or face restrictions until they do.
The expansion of the restrictions, which already affected more than 135 million people in seven countries, is likely to hinder more than 12,300 potential immigrants from resettling in the United States or reuniting with their families. The effect on Nigeria, not only Africa’s most populous country but also its largest economy, could be particularly severe.
Days after he came into office, Trump signed an executive order that closed the country’s borders to people from seven predominantly Muslim-majority countries, making partial good on a campaign pledge “for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.”
The policy took even some Department of Homeland Security officials by surprise and prompted widespread confusion at airports across the nation.
More than 79,700 visas have been subject to the ban since December 2017, according to the State Department.
The ban drew several legal challenges but, after some adjustments, was narrowly upheld by the Supreme Court in June 2018. The ban initially restricted travel from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, and Chad — as well as Venezuela and North Korea. Chad was later removed from the list.