Report: Trump administration mulls expansion of travel ban

Travel Weekly

5 hours ago

The Trump administration is weighing a travel ban expansion to include 36 additional countries, according to the Washington Post.
The Post reported that according to a State Department memo it reviewed, the expanded ban would impact 25 African nations and countries in the Caribbean, Central Asia and several Pacific island nations. The possible expansion comes after the Trump administration banned the entry of citizens from a dozen countries earlier this month.
According to the Post, the expanded list would include Angola; Antigua and Barbuda; Benin; Bhutan; Burkina Faso; Cabo Verde; Cambodia; Cameroon; Democratic Republic of Congo; Djibouti; Dominica; Ethiopia; Egypt; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; the Ivory Coast; Kyrgyzstan; Liberia; Malawi; Mauritania; Niger; Nigeria; St. Kitts and Nevis; St. Lucia; Sao Tome and Principe; Senegal; South Sudan; Syria; Tanzanial; Tonga; Tuvalu; Uganda; Vanuatu; Zambia; and Zimbabwe.
The memo said the governments of these countries had 60 days to meet new benchmarks and requirements established by the State Department, the Post reported. The countries have until 8 a.m. on June 18 to provide an initial action plan to meet the State Department's requirements, according to the outlet.
Reasons behind the added bans
According to the Post, the memo listed the reasons for the expanded ban to include these countries as some of the countries having "no competent or cooperative central government authority to produce reliable identity documents or other civil documents," or suffering from "widespread government fraud," or having a large number of citizens who overstayed their visas in the U.S or "antisemitic and anti-American activity in the United States" by citizens of those countries.
The Trump administration's initial ban applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, although there are some exceptions for people with dual citizenship or legal residency in the U.S., some athletes, some refugees and some people who have worked for the U.S. government.
It also restricts entry for travelers from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela who do not hold a valid visa.