Tourists hoping to vacation in the United States may be forced to think twice before booking plane tickets, as President Donald Trump is said to be considering a sweeping ban against natives of 43 countries.
Travelers from the countries in question may find trouble gaining access to the US, in the 78-year-old Republican’s bid to tackle immigration.
Of the 43 countries, they have reportedly been placed into three groups – all travel strictly banned, visas restricted dramatically, with the third seeing countries given a 60-day ultimatum to address concerns raised by the Trump administration.
According to the New York Times, here is a draft list of countries that could be banned:
All travel banned
- Afghanistan
- Bhutan
- Cuba
- Iran
- Libya
- North Korea
- Somalia
- Sudan
- Syria
- Venezuela
- Yemen
Visas sharply restricted
- Belarus
- Eritrea
- Haiti
- Laos
- Myanmar
- Pakistan
- Russia
- Sierra Leone
- South Sudan
- Turkmenistan
Countries that have 60 days to address concerns
- Angola
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Benin
- Burkina Faso
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Cape Verde
- Chad
- Republic of Congo
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Dominica
- Equatorial Guinea
- Gambia
- Liberia
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mauritania
- St. Kitts and Nevis
- St. Lucia
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Vanuatu
- Zimbabwe
President Donald Trump has been opened about his bid to tackle immigration (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
The NYT noted that the list was reportedly developed ‘several weeks ago’ and ‘changes were likely by the time it reached the White House’.
It comes after Trump signed an executive order on January 20 – his first day back in the Oval Office – that was titled ‘Protecting the United States from foreign terrorists and other national security and public safety threats’.
It read in part: “Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence shall jointly submit to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, a report:
“(i) Identifying countries throughout the world 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 pursuant to section 212(f) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)); and.
“(ii) Identifying how many nationals from those countries have entered or have been admitted into the United States on or since January 20, 2021, and any other information the Secretaries and Attorney General deem relevant to the actions or activities of such nationals since their admission or entry to the United States.”
It means the 22 countries on the list could have until Friday (March 21) to comply with requests to provide the US with information about travelers that intend to arrive in the country, as well as those that are already present.
UNILAD has contacted the White House for comment.