Donald Trump Reimposes US Travel Ban; Targets Citizens From 12 Countries (Photo on Facebook @Donald J. Trump)
Washington DC, US: Since assuming power for the second term, US president Donald Trump has introduced several surprising decisions. The president has now reinstated the travel ban which he took during his first administration, by proclaiming sweeping travel restrictions targeting citizens of many countries.
In a proclamation issued on June 4, the president listed a total of 12 countries that will be affected by his administration’s complete travel restriction. The countries are: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The declaration says the entry of all these nationals into the US as immigrants and nonimmigrants has been fully suspended.
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The Trump administration also issued a clarification justifying its travel ban by flagging security concerns and visa overstays. While it claimed Afghanistan to be lacking a competent or cooperative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents, it pointed out Taliban, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group, currently controls Afghanistan.
Referring to Iran, the statement said it is a state sponsor of terrorism, claiming that Iran regularly fails to cooperate with the United States Government in identifying security risks, and that it is the source of significant terrorism around the world.
For countries such as Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, and Eretria, the administration pointed out they lacked a competent or cooperative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents while also flagging visa overstay issues. For most other countries listed above, visa overstays have been cited as the major reason for the travel ban.
In addition, there will be a partial suspension of travel imposed on the following countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela. While some countries have been alleged to have sponsored terrorism, others arguably failed to comply with visa rules and lack central competent authorities.
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“The policy of the United States is to protect its citizens from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes,” the president said, noting that the country must be vigilant during the visa-issuance process to ensure that those aliens approved for admission into the United States do not intend to harm the national interests.
Trump further said that he is committed to engaging with those countries willing to cooperate to improve information-sharing and identity-management procedures, and to address both terrorism-related and public-safety risks.
However, the suspension will not be applicable to certain categories, including the lawful permanent resident of the US, Afghan Special Immigrant Visas, Special Immigrant Visas for United States Government employees, immigrant visas for ethnic and religious minorities facing persecution in Iran, among others.
