WASHINGTON, D.C., December 17 (ANI): U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday expanded an existing travel ban by adding five more countries and imposing additional limits on others, as the administration continues to tighten entry requirements and immigration standards, Fox News reported.
According to the White House, the restrictions outlined in the proclamation are aimed at preventing the entry of foreign nationals for whom the United States lacks sufficient information to adequately assess potential risks. The measures are intended to enhance cooperation with foreign governments, strengthen enforcement of immigration laws, and advance U.S. foreign policy, national security, and counterterrorism objectives.
As a result of Tuesday’s action, citizens of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria, as well as individuals holding Palestinian Authority–issued travel documents, will face a ban on travel to the United States. The White House also said that existing partial bans on Laos and Sierra Leone have been expanded into full suspensions of entry.
In addition, partial restrictions will be imposed on travelers from Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The proclamation also narrows broad family-based immigrant visa exemptions that the administration says carry demonstrated fraud risks, while preserving the option of case-by-case waivers, the White House noted.
In its announcement, the Trump administration said many of the countries affected by the ban suffer from widespread corruption, unreliable or fraudulent civil documents and criminal records, and inadequate birth registration systems, making effective vetting difficult. Other countries, it said, refuse to share law enforcement data or allow citizenship-by-investment programs that can conceal identities and bypass vetting and travel restrictions, according to Fox News.
In June, Trump had announced a U.S. entry ban on citizens of 12 countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Restrictions were also tightened on travelers from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
Tuesday’s decision follows the arrest of an Afghan national suspected of shooting two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Fox News reported.
At the time of the incident, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was among Afghans who were mass paroled into the United States under Operation Allies Welcome during the Biden administration, according to Fox News.
Lakanwal is accused of fatally shooting U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and injuring U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, who is recovering, Fox News reported.
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