U.S. President Donald Trump has announced plans to impose a travel ban on 43 countries, according to a report on Saturday. Reuters cited an internal memo and sources familiar with the matter.
The memo, which is still pending approval from the Trump administration, divides the 43 countries into three categories: red, orange, and yellow. While the list includes several African nations, major African economies such as Nigeria, South Africa, Algeria, and Egypt are notably absent.
The red group consists of 11 countries: Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Cuba, Bhutan, Venezuela, North Korea, Yemen, and Somalia. Nationals from these countries would be barred from entering the U.S.
The orange group includes 10 countries where visa issuance would be severely restricted. These nations are Russia, Belarus, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Pakistan, Laos, Turkmenistan, Haiti, and Eritrea.
Countries in the yellow group have been given 60 days to address concerns raised by the U.S. government. The 22 nations on this list include Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Vanuatu, and Zimbabwe.
The New York Times was the first to report on the list of countries targeted for the proposed travel ban.
A U.S. official told Reuters that the list could still change and is subject to approval by the administration, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
This proposed travel ban is part of an ongoing immigration crackdown that Trump initiated at the start of his second term in January.
