Audio By Carbonatix
The United States is considering restricting entry to citizens of an additional 36 countries in what would be a significant expansion of the travel ban announced by the Trump administration early this month, according to a State Department memo reviewed by The Washington Post.
Among the new list of countries that could face visa bans or other restrictions are 25 African nations, including significant U.S. partners such as Egypt and Djibouti, plus countries in the Caribbean, Central Asia and several Pacific Island nations.
A State Department spokesperson said the agency would not comment on internal deliberations or communications. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Such a move would mark another escalation in the Trump administration’s aggressive crackdown on immigration.
The memo, which was signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and sent Saturday to U.S. diplomats who work with the countries, said the governments of listed nations were being given 60 days to meet new benchmarks and requirements established by the State Department. It set a deadline of 8 a.m. Wednesday for them to provide an initial action plan for meeting the requirements.
The memo identified varied benchmarks that, in the administration’s estimation, these countries were failing to meet. Some countries had “no competent or cooperative central government authority to produce reliable identity documents or other civil documents,” or they suffered from “widespread government fraud.” Others had large numbers of citizens who overstayed their visas in the United States, the memo said.
Other reasons included the availability of citizenship by monetary investment without a requirement of residency and claims of “antisemitic and anti-American activity in the United States” by people from those countries. The memo also stated that if a country was willing to accept third-country nationals who were removed from the United States or enter a “safe third country” agreement, it could mitigate other concerns.
It was not immediately clear when the proposed travel restrictions would be enforced if the demands were not met.
The countries facing scrutiny in the memo: Angola; Antigua and Barbuda; Benin; Bhutan; Burkina Faso; Cabo Verde; Cambodia; Cameroon; Democratic Republic of Congo; Djibouti; Dominica; Ethiopia; Egypt; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Ivory Coast; Kyrgyzstan; Liberia; Malawi; Mauritania; Niger; Nigeria; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Sao Tome and Principe; Senegal; South Sudan; Syria; Tanzania; Tonga; Tuvalu; Uganda; Vanuatu; Zambia; and Zimbabwe.
The list represents a significant expansion of a presidential proclamation issued June 4, when the United States fully restricted the entry of individuals from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The United States also had partially restricted the entry of travelers from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela under that order.
Latest Stories
-
Imprisonment should be rehabilitative, not punitive – Ghana Prisons boss at UNGA
17 minutes -
Ga Adangbe traditional priests petition Mahama over McDan aviation licence revocation
28 minutes -
Anti-LGBTQ Bill: NDC’s arrogance is worrying – Hassan Tampuli
38 minutes -
Let’s give OSP time to mature, not to scrap it – Hassan Tampuli
42 minutes -
Nigeria convicts 386 Islamist militants in mass trials
47 minutes -
Djibouti president wins election with 97.8% of vote, state media saysÂ
52 minutes -
We don’t have mandate to deduct tax from rent allowance of security services personnel – Interior Ministry clarifies
1 hour -
Ablakwa receives Presidential Special Envoy on Reparations to advance global agenda
1 hour -
Christina Koch becomes first woman to travel around the moon on Artemis II
2 hours -
Epstein survivors’ calls to meet King Charles and Queen harder to ignore as US visit approaches
2 hours -
UN Secretary-General names Ghana’s Anita Kiki Gbeho as South Sudan envoy
2 hours -
Mali withdraws recognition of Sahrawi Republic, backs Morocco’s autonomy plan
2 hours -
Gov’t distributes over 8,500 laptops to One Million Coders project
2 hours -
Julius Debrah, ‘man to beat’ as NDC’s James Agbey dismisses Musah Dankwah’s polls
2 hours -
GPRTU in Savannah Region to protest alleged eviction in Damongo
2 hours