United State President Donald Trump is planning to place travel restrictions to Nigeria and other six African and Asian countries, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. Trump said his administration was preparing to add a “couple of countries” to the controversial list of states whose citizens are subject to travel bans or severe restrictions on entry to the United States.
“We are adding a couple of countries to it. We have to be safe. Our country has to be safe,” he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, adding that the names of the new countries would be announced, “very shortly”.
Government officials who have seen the list said new restrictions would apply to travelers and immigrants from Nigeria, Belarus, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Sudan and Tanzania.
A senior Trump administration official said that countries that failed to comply with security requirements, including passport biometrics, information-sharing and counter-terrorism measures, would be affected.
The countries wouldn’t necessarily face blanket bans on travel to the USA, but could have restrictions placed on specific types of visas, such as business or visitor visas, government officials said.
Some countries could be banned from participating in the diversity visa lottery program. The officials said the list isn’t final, and on Tuesday the White House was still debating whether to include one or two of the countries.
The planned restrictions might be implemented on Monday, WSJ said. The president has since said its policy restricting travel is necessary to prevent potential acts of terrorism, as countries on the list don’t adequately vet their travelers to the USA.
This is not the first time Trump will place travel restrictions on countries. Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, as well as some Venezuelan officials and their relatives are under different travel restrictions placed on them by Trump.
