This Tuesday, the government of Donald Trump expanded the list of countries whose citizens are banned from entering the United States to include five others: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria. In addition, 15 more countries are added to the list of partial restrictions and people with travel documents issued by the Palestinian Authority are prohibited from entering the United States, although current obstacles already make it almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain visas. With the new expansion, a total of 39 countries impose restrictions on travel to the United States.
“The restrictions and limitations imposed by the Proclamation are necessary to prevent the entry of foreign nationals about whom the United States does not have sufficient information to assess the risks they pose, obtain the cooperation of foreign governments, enforce our immigration laws and promote other important objectives of foreign policy, national security and the fight against terrorism”, justifies the White House in a press release.
The new bans come on top of measures imposed on citizens of 19 countries in response to the attack on two National Guardsmen in Washington DC last month, which claimed the life of one of the officers and left the other seriously injured, who is recovering favorably. The attacker, who declared himself innocent, is of Afghan origin, which led to the suspension of all visas granted to Afghan citizens. Later, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also announced the review of residence permits granted to citizens of countries to which the travel ban was applied.
“Many restricted countries suffer from widespread corruption, fraudulent or unreliable civil documents and criminal records, and non-existent birth registration systems, systematically preventing accurate data verification,” the White House said.
In June, Trump announced that citizens of 12 countries would be barred from entering the United States and those of seven other countries would be subject to restrictions. The ban covered Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Restrictions have been expanded for visitors from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
Laos and Sierra Leone will benefit from a total ban starting this Tuesday, while the veto on non-immigrant visas for citizens of Turkmenistan is lifted “given that country has collaborated productively with the United States and demonstrated significant progress since the previous proclamation.” Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Ivory Coast, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia and Zimbabwe join the list of countries subject to partial restrictions.
The new restrictions include exceptions for lawful permanent residents, existing visa holders, certain visa categories such as those for athletes and diplomats, and individuals whose entry furthers the national interests of the United States.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem already predicted this month that the attack on the National Guard would lead to more consequences and a ban on travel from other countries. “If they don’t have a stable government, if they don’t have a country that can sustain itself and tell us who these people are and help us investigate them, why should we allow people from that country to come to the United States? Noem said in an interview with Fox on December 4.
Using an already anachronistic phrase, Trump called countries with which there were travel restrictions “third world” and accused their citizens without providing proof that they were criminals.
“The presence of terrorists, criminal activity, and extremist activity in several of the (restricted) countries causes a general lack of stability and government oversight, resulting in deficiencies in background check processes and posing direct risks to U.S. citizens and interests when nationals of these countries are permitted to enter the United States,” the government said in a statement Tuesday.
Regarding the Palestinians, the White House noted that “U.S.-designated terrorist groups are actively operating in the West Bank or Gaza Strip and have murdered U.S. citizens.”
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