Trump expands travel ban, adding seven more countries to restricted list

On Tuesday, Donald Trump expanded the visa ban to seven more countries, after a month of imposing a ban on 19 countries in November.

The Trump administration has stated that Trump has signed a proclamation “expanding and strengthening entry restrictions on nationals from countries with demonstrated, persistent, and severe deficiencies in screening, vetting, and information-sharing to protect the Nation from national security and public safety threats."

The U.S had earlier restricted travel from 19 non-European countries, the memorandum includes Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. However, these countries faced a partial ban in June as well.

On Tuesday, seven more countries were included in the list of bans: citizens from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, Syria, and those holding Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents. The action also imposes a full ban on Laos and Sierra Leone, which had previously only been subject to partial restrictions.

The move occurred even though Trump had promised to do everything possible to help Syria succeed, following historic November talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al Qaeda commander who was until recently sanctioned by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist.

According to Trump, the action taken was to protect the country from foreign terrorists and other security threats. The bans apply to both immigrants and non-immigrants, such as tourists, students, and business travellers.

When Trump returned to office in January, he made immigration control his topmost focus. He has deployed government law enforcement officers to cities, likely to enforce immigration laws or address crime linked to immigration. People who are trying to enter the US to seek asylum are being denied now.

The restrictions imposed through the new policies are strictly focused on legal immigration, framed around protecting national security.

The new policy also stated that all immigrants from the listed countries will undergo a re-review process, and if necessary, a re-interview to fully assess all the national security and public safety threats.