Washington:
According to an internal memo seen by sources and writers familiar with the matter, the Trump administration is considering issuing massive travel restrictions to citizens of dozens of countries as part of a new ban.
The memo has a list of a total of 41 countries divided into three separate groups. The first group of 10 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Cuba and North Korea, will be appointed for a complete visa suspension.
In the second group, five countries, including Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, and South Sudan, will face partial suspension, which will affect tourists and students’ visas as well as other immigrant visas.
The memo said that in the third group, a total of 26 countries, including Pakistan, Bhutan and Myanmar, will be considered for partial suspension of US visa issuance if their governments “do not try to remove the decline within 60 days”.
An American official, speaking on condition of anonymity, warned that changes could be made in the list and that it could not be approved by the administration, including the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The New York Times first reported on the list of countries.
The move points to President Donald Trump’s ban on passengers from seven -majority Muslim countries for the first term, a policy that goes through several repetitions before being retained by the Supreme Court in 2018.
Trump issued an executive order January 20, which requires a speedy examination of the security of any foreigners seeking entry into the United States to detect national security threats.
This order has directed several cabinet members to present a list of countries by March 21, where travel should be partially or completely suspended because their “testing and screening information is so lacking.”
Trump’s direction is part of the immigration crackdown he started at the beginning of his second term.
He predicted his plan in the October 2023 speech, and promised that the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and “anywhere our security are threatened”.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters to comment.
