President Donald Trump on Tuesday expanded a US travel ban, barring nationals from seven additional countries including Syria as well as Palestinian Authority passport holders, from entering the United States.
The move, announced by the White House, reflects Trump’s long-standing campaign to restrict immigration. The administration said the ban targets foreigners who “intend to threaten” Americans.
A White House proclamation also stated that Trump aims to prevent foreigners already in the United States from actions that could “undermine or destabilize its culture, government, institutions or founding principles.”
The expansion comes days after two US troops and a civilian were killed in Syria, a country Trump has sought to rehabilitate internationally following the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. Syrian authorities said the attacker was a member of the security forces who was due to be dismissed over “extremist Islamist ideas.”
The Trump administration has also formally moved to bar Palestinian Authority passport holders, aligning with Israel amid opposition to the recognition of a Palestinian state by several Western countries, including France and Britain.
Other countries newly subjected to the full travel ban include some of Africa’s poorest nations — Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan as well as Laos in Southeast Asia.
In addition, the White House said Trump is imposing partial travel restrictions on citizens of several other countries, including Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria, and several Black-majority Caribbean states.
Ramping up anti-immigrant tone
In recent weeks, Trump has used increasingly inflammatory language when discussing immigrants of African origin.
At a rally last week, he said the United States should stop accepting people from what he described as “shithole countries” and instead prioritize immigrants from nations such as Norway and Sweden.
He also recently referred to Somalis as “garbage” following a scandal in which Somali Americans allegedly defrauded the government through fictitious contracts in Minnesota. Trump had already banned Somali nationals from entering the United States.
Countries already subject to the full travel ban include Afghanistan, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Sudan, and Yemen.
Last month, Trump further tightened restrictions on Afghans, ending a program that allowed entry for those who fought alongside US forces against the Taliban. The decision followed an incident in which an Afghan veteran, reportedly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, shot two National Guard troops deployed in Washington.
Countries newly facing partial restrictions, in addition to Nigeria, include Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mauritania, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Angola, Senegal, and Zambia have previously been highlighted as key US partners in Africa, with former president Joe Biden praising their democratic commitments.
In its proclamation, the White House cited high crime rates and deficiencies in passport and record-keeping systems in several of the affected countries. It also acknowledged “significant progress” by Turkmenistan, which will once again be eligible for US visas — though only for non-immigrant travel.
AFP
