President Donald Trump expanded his travel ban on Tuesday, barring most nationals from seven countries and people with Palestine-issued documents from entering the U.S.
A new proclamation cites terrorism and visa overstays to ban people from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, Syria and those with travel documents endorsed by the Palestinian Authority. The Trump administration also moved Sierra Leone and Laos to the full ban list, which now includes 19 countries.
Entry from travelers from 15 other countries — Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia and Zimbabwe — with student, researcher, visitor and entrepreneur visas will be suspended under the new proclamation.
Permanent residents, dual citizens, diplomats and athletes and their immediate family traveling for major sporting events such as the World Cup won’t be subjected to the travel restrictions. However, family members of people already in the U.S. will no longer be exempted.
“It is the policy of the United States to protect its citizens from foreign nationals who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security and public safety, incite hate crimes, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes,” the White House proclamation states.
At the beginning of his second term, Trump reinstated a travel ban and travel restrictions for 19 countries. In the wake of the shooting of two National Guard members by a suspect from Afghanistan, the administration has recently moved to pause all immigration applications for the countries listed in the initial ban, including green card and citizenship applications.
Earlier this month, Kristi Noem, Department of Homeland Security secretary, said in an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham that the administration planned to add more than 30 countries to the travel ban.
The International Refugee Assistance Project condemned the proclamation. Laurie Ball Cooper, the group’s vice president for U.S. legal programs, called it a shameful attempt to demonize immigrants.
“This racist and xenophobic ban will keep families apart, but we are prepared to defend our clients, their communities, and the American values of welcome, justice, and dignity for all,” she said in a statement.
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