President Donald Trump ordered a complete restriction on entry to the United States for citizens of seven countries, bringing the total to 39 nations with partial or complete restrictions for those seeking to enter the country. This measure aims to strengthen the hardening of immigration and national security policies.
The action taken by Trump follows the attack on November 26 in which two members of the National Guard in Washington D.C. were shot by an Afghan citizen, resulting in the death of Sarah Beckstrom.
New Countries Added to the List
Citizens from Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Syria are now completely restricted from entering the United States.
The order signed by the president also made clear that all individuals attempting to enter the country with travel documents issued or endorsed by the Palestinian National Authority are banned.
The White House stated that many of these countries exhibit “widespread corruption, fraudulent or unreliable civil documents, and criminal records that are difficult to verify, factors that complicate risk assessment for authorizing travel to the United States.”
It is worth noting that the Trump Administration had already denied visas to Palestinian officials who planned to attend the UN General Assembly held in September.
Restrictions on These Countries
Regarding the restricted countries, the president had already imposed partial restrictions on citizens of Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
In June, he issued a total ban for Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
The first countries added to this list were Burundi, Cuba, Togo, and Venezuela.
“No Information to Assess Risks”
With this latest expansion, 19 countries are now subject to a total travel ban to the United States, in addition to the Palestinian National Authority, while another 19 face partial restrictions.
“The restrictions and limitations imposed by this proclamation are, in my judgment, necessary to prevent the entry or admission of foreign nationals about whom the U.S. Government lacks sufficient information to assess the risks they pose to the country,” states the order signed by Trump.
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