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Trump Expands Travel Ban, Restrictions 12/17 06:00
The Trump administration announced Tuesday it was expanding travel
restrictions to an additional 20 countries and the Palestinian Authority,
doubling the number of nations affected by sweeping limits announced earlier
this year on who can travel and emigrate to the U.S.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Trump administration announced Tuesday it was
expanding travel restrictions to an additional 20 countries and the Palestinian
Authority, doubling the number of nations affected by sweeping limits announced
earlier this year on who can travel and emigrate to the U.S.
The Trump administration included five more countries as well as people
traveling on documents issued by the Palestinian Authority to the list of
countries facing a full ban on travel to the U.S. and imposed new limits on 15
other countries.
The move is part of ongoing efforts by the administration to tighten U.S.
entry standards for travel and immigration, in what critics say unfairly
prevents travel for people from a broad range of countries. The administration
suggested it would expand the restrictions after the arrest of an Afghan
national suspect in the shooting of two National Guard troops over Thanksgiving
weekend.
People who already have visas, are lawful permanent residents of the U.S. or
have certain visa categories such as diplomats or athletes, or whose entry into
the country is believed to serve the U.S. interest, are all exempt from the
restrictions. The proclamation said the changes go into effect on Jan. 1.
In June, President Donald Trump announced that citizens of 12 countries
would be banned from coming to the United States and those from seven others
would face restrictions. The decision resurrected a hallmark policy of his
first term.
At the time the ban included Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of
Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen
and heightened restrictions on visitors from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone,
Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
On Tuesday, the Republican administration announced it was expanding the
list of countries whose citizens are banned from entering the U.S. to Burkina
Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria. The administration also fully
restricted travel on people with Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents,
the latest U.S. travel restriction against Palestinians. South Sudan was also
facing significant travel restrictions already.
An additional 15 countries are also being added to the list of countries
facing partial restrictions: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Ivory Coast,
Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga,
Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The restrictions apply to both people seeking to travel to the U.S. as
visitors or to emigrate there.
The Trump administration said in its announcement that many of the countries
from which it was restricting travel had "widespread corruption, fraudulent or
unreliable civil documents and criminal records" that made it difficult to vet
their citizens for travel to the U.S.
It also said some countries had high rates of people overstaying their
visas, refused to take back their citizens whom the U.S. wished to deport or
had a "general lack of stability and government control," which made vetting
difficult. It also cited immigration enforcement, foreign policy and national
security concerns for the move.
The Afghan man accused of shooting the two National Guard troops near the
White House has pleaded not guilty to murder and assault charges. In the
aftermath of that incident, the administration announced a flurry of
immigration restrictions, including further restrictions on people from those
initial 19 countries who were already in the U.S.
The news of the expanding travel ban is likely to face fierce opposition
from critics who have argued that the administration is using national security
concerns to collectively keep out people from a wide range of countries.
"This expanded ban is not about national security but instead is another
shameful attempt to demonize people simply for where they are from," said
Laurie Ball Cooper, vice president of U.S. Legal Programs at the International
Refugee Assistance Project.
Advocates for Afghans who supported the United States' two-decade long war
in Afghanistan also raised alarms Tuesday, saying the updated travel ban no
longer contains an exception for Afghans who qualify for the Special Immigrant
Visa. That's a visa category specifically for Afghans who closely assisted the
U.S. war effort at great risk to themselves.
No One Left Behind, a longtime agency advocating for the Special Immigrant
Visa program, said it was "deeply concerned" about the change. The organization
said it appreciated the president's commitment to national security but
allowing Afghans who'd served the U.S. to enter the U.S. -- after extensive
vetting -- also contributes to the country's security.
"Though intended to allow for review of inconsistent vetting processes, this
policy change inadvertently restricts those who are among the most rigorously
vetted in our history: the wartime allies targeted by the terrorists this
proclamation seeks to address," the organization said in a statement.
Countries that were newly placed on the list of banned or restricted
countries said late Tuesday that they were evaluating the news. The government
of the island nation of Dominica in the Caribbean Sea said it was treating the
issue with the "utmost seriousness and urgency" and was reaching out to U.S.
officials to clarify what the restrictions mean and address any problems.
Antigua and Barbuda's ambassador to the United States, Ronald Saunders, said
the "matter is quite serious" and he'll be seeking more information from U.S.
officials regarding the new restrictions.
The Trump administration also upgraded restrictions on some countries --
Laos and Sierra Leone -- that previously were on the partially restricted list
and in one case -- Turkmenistan -- said the country had improved enough to
warrant easing some restrictions on travelers from that country. Everything
else from the previous travel restrictions announced in June remains in place,
the administration said.
The new restrictions on Palestinians come months after the administration
imposed limits that make it nearly impossible for anyone holding a Palestinian
Authority passport from receiving travel documents to visit the U.S. for
business, work, pleasure or educational purposes. The announcement Tuesday goes
further, banning people with Palestinian Authority passports from emigrating to
the U.S.
In justifying its decision Tuesday, the administration said several
"U.S.-designated terrorist groups operate actively in the West Bank or Gaza
Strip and have murdered American citizens." The administration also said the
recent war in those areas had "likely resulted in compromised vetting and
screening abilities."
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