Another 36 countries could face a travel ban on the US honglouwawa/getty images/istockphoto hide caption
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According to a State Department memo obtained by NPR, the Trump administration is considering moves that could almost triple the number of countries subject to a travel ban. Up to 36 additional countries can be added to the 19 lists placed under full or partial restrictions earlier this month.
Notes to diplomats in about 20 African countries, along with other countries in Central Asia, the Caribbean and several Pacific Islands, require by this Wednesday they will begin to address concerns and detail how they will comply with the new State Department requirements.
The memo, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, says it was first reported by the Washington Post. 36 countries say they have been identified as “the screening and screening information (it) is lacking enough to guarantee a partial or complete suspension of entry into the United States.”
The memo says that some countries are designated as national sponsors of terrorism, or that some citizens are “involved in US terrorist acts.” The memo says some people lack trustworthy government authority, “creating trustworthy identity documents,” creating trustworthy identity documents, maintaining unreliable criminal history, or suffering from “wide-wide government fraud.” Other concerns include claims that the country has a high percentage of citizens with overreached visas or “citizens involved in US anti-Semitic or anti-American activities. Countries that have not addressed concerns may be recommended for a travel ban in August.
In a statement to NPR, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, called the entry of individuals from these countries “helps secure America's homelands and make our communities safer.”
The memo also cites the requirement that foreign governments be “fully cooperative” in eliminating foreigners if they are “essential to US national security.” And certain concerns the US may have in certain countries can be “mitigated,” the memo says if the country is willing to accept US exiles who cannot send back to their country of origin.
“This is a necessary step to gain cooperation from foreign governments and helps to accept citizens' deportation flights, strengthen national security and restore integrity in the immigration system,” McLaughlin said.
However, critics of the travel ban consider it racially and religiously discriminatory for targeting many African and the majority of Muslim countries against President Trump's previous ban.
The countries mentioned in the memo state that they face bans. Angola. Antigua and Barbuda. Benin; Bhutan; Burkina Faso; Cabo Verde; Cambodia; Cameroon; Ivory Coast; Democratic Republic of the Congo; djibouti; Dominica; Ethiopia; Egypt; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Kyrgyzstan; Liberia; Malawi; Mauritania; Niger; Nigeria; St. Kitz and Nevis. Saint Lucia; Sao Tome and Principe; Senegal; South Sudan; Syria; Tanzania; Tonga; Tubal; Uganda; Vanuatu; Zambia; and Zimbabwe.
Countries that have already been completely banned on June 4th are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Partially prohibited are Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
In his first term, Trump banned travelers from the vast majority of seven Muslim countries, but the order was revoked under the Biden administration.
