US President Donald Trump previously implemented a “Muslim” travel ban during his first term in office that included numerous countries that had majority Muslim populations
Donald Trump responds to judge rejecting his travel ban in 2017
Donald Trump is reportedly considering slapping new travel bans on as many as 43 countries.
The draft list would impose restrictions on people wanting to come into the US and would be broader than those implemented by the Republican leader during his first term. It would also include a so-called “red” list of 11 countries whose citizens would be banned from entering the country.
These would include: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen, according to officials. An orange category would mean visas would be heavily restricted and a yellow listed country would mean they would have 60 days to address concerns.
The travel ban would be an expansion of Mr Trump’s “Muslim ban” from his first term where he introduced a number of executive orders aimed to bar entry to the country from countries that predominantly had majority Muslim populations.
Officials, who spoke to the New York Times on the condition of anonymity, said the list had been developed by the State Department several weeks ago and changes to it were likely by the time it reached to the White House. Officials at embassies and intelligence agencies across the globe have reviewed the draft
They noted people on from an orange-listed country would not have full restrictions. In many cases, affluent people could be allowed to enter but not those traveling on immigrant or tourist visas.
Citizens on that list would also need to take part in mandatory in-person interviews in order to obtain a visa. The list includes: Belarus, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Turkmenistan.
After taking office on January 20, Mr Trump signed an executive order that required the State Department to identify countries “for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.”
He told the department it had 60 days to complete a report for him, which means it is due next week. The State Department previously said it was following Mr Trump’s order and that it was “committed to protecting our nation and its citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process.”
The draft ban also includes 22 “yellow” countries that would be given 60 days to clear up what the US perceived as deficiencies with the threat of being moved to one of the other lists should they fail to implement them.
That list includes: 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 Mirror has contacted the White House for comment on the reported new travel ban.
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