Trump's expanded travel ban targets Nigeria, five other countries

[rooster59]

Trump's expanded travel ban targets Nigeria, five other countries

By Ted Hesson

 

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the White House Summit on Human Trafficking in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., January 31, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump issued an expanded version of his travel ban on Friday that targets prospective immigrants from Nigeria and five other countries, a move that could affect thousands of people and reignite debate on whether the policy is discriminatory.

 

Of the six countries added to the ban, four are African nations and three have Muslim-majority populations. Democrats and immigration advocates accuse the Trump administration of seeking to expand its original 2017 ban that targeted Muslim-majority countries and of disproportionately focusing on African countries.

 

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said during a call with reporters that the six countries failed to meet U.S. security and information-sharing standards, which necessitated the new restrictions. The problems Wolf cited ranged from sub-par passport technology to a failure to sufficiently exchange information on terrorism suspects and criminals.

 

Belarus, which had been under consideration for inclusion, took steps to remedy deficiencies in recent months and will not face visa restrictions, Wolf said.

 

The United States will suspend the issuance of visas that can lead to permanent residency for nationals of Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar and Nigeria, a presidential proclamation said. Temporary visas for tourists, businesspeople, students and workers from those nations will not be affected, it said.

 

The U.S. government also will stop issuing "diversity visas" to nationals of Sudan and Tanzania, the proclamation said.

The visas, which Trump has criticized, are available by lottery for applicants from countries with low rates of immigration.

 

(Graphic on visas: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/editorcharts/USA-IMMIGRATION-BAN/0H001R88MBPR/eikon.png)

 

"These countries, for the most part, want to be helpful," Wolf said, "but for a variety of different reasons simply failed to meet those minimum requirements that we laid out."

 

The original travel ban barred nearly all immigrants and travellers from seven countries with majority Muslim populations. The policy was revised amid court challenges, but the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately upheld it in June 2018.

 

Trump has made cracking down on immigration a focus of his 2020 re-election campaign. His travel ban policy is popular with Republican supporters.

 

The existing version of the ban includes Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. North Korea and Venezuela also face visa bars, but those measures affect relatively few travellers. Those restrictions will remain in place.

 

The new travel ban will take effect on Feb. 21, according to the proclamation.

 

MOST VISAS FROM NIGERIA

 

U.S. Representative Joe Neguse, a Democrat from Colorado and son of Eritrean refugees, said the updated ban unfairly singled out allied African nations.

 

"It is un-American to discriminate against immigrants solely because of where they come from or how they pray," Neguse told reporters.

 

In 2015, when he was running for president, Trump called for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States."

 

Three nations included in the updated ban - Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria and Sudan - have majority Muslim populations. Eritrea and Tanzania have sizable Muslim minorities.

 

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized the ban, calling it "discrimination disguised as policy." She said the Democrats would introduce legislation barring religious discrimination in the U.S. immigration system within a few weeks.

 

Nigeria sends the most immigrants to the United States. The U.S. State Department issued approximately 7,900 immigrant visas to Nigerians in fiscal year 2018, which began Oct. 1, 2017.

 

Geoffrey Onyeama, Nigeria's foreign affairs minister, said he was "disappointed" by the decision. The U.S. State Department will host meetings in Washington on Monday and Tuesday with Onyeama, other officials and business leaders.

 

The administration said the new ban was narrowly tailored.

 

Investor visas, which lead to permanent residence, will also be barred. But the restrictions will not apply to skilled foreign workers entering the United States on H-1B visas, according to a DHS official who briefed reporters. Such visas are temporary, but can lead to permanent residence.

 

Immigrants already in the United States, or who have approved visas will be exempt from the ban, the official said. People with pending visa requests, some of whom have waited years, will be barred.

 

All applicants will be able to apply for a waiver, a process already in place under Trump's existing ban. But a federal lawsuit challenging the administration says the waiver process is opaque and difficult to navigate.

 

The visa restrictions will not apply to refugees, according to the official. Trump's administration has separately capped the number of refugees allowed into the United States at 18,000 for the 2020 fiscal year, the lowest level in decades.

 

(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington, Felix Onuah and Camillus Eboh in Abuja, Libby George in Lagos and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco, Mica Rosenberg in New York; Additional reporting by Makini Brice in Washington; Editing by Dan Grebler, Grant McCool and Daniel Wallis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-02-01

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info

[heybruce]

Why is Myanmar on this list?  How many Myanmar terrorists have been caught trying to enter the US, or anywhere else?

[Andrew65]

3 hours ago, heybruce said:

Why is Myanmar on this list?  How many Myanmar terrorists have been caught trying to enter the US, or anywhere else?

Maybe partly due to human rights stuff?

Also, some of the Muslim terrorists who committed crimes in Europe were born in Belgium.

[alex8912]

4 hours ago, heybruce said:

Why is Myanmar on this list?  How many Myanmar terrorists have been caught trying to enter the US, or anywhere else?

They have easy to make passports that can end up in the wrong hands ( easily). 

[heybruce]

1 hour ago, Andrew65 said:

Maybe partly due to human rights stuff?

Also, some of the Muslim terrorists who committed crimes in Europe were born in Belgium.

So ban the government officials responsible for the human rights abuses.  And ban people for Belgium.

[heybruce]

9 minutes ago, alex8912 said:

They have easy to make passports that can end up in the wrong hands ( easily). 

And many countries sell citizenship for affordable prices.  Are we going to ban people from those countries also?  https://corpocrat.com/2019/11/01/10-countries-that-sell-instant-citizenship-or-passports/

[Gweiloman]

I wonder if Myanmar will reciprocate and stop the border running Americans. 

[rabas]

5 hours ago, heybruce said:

Why is Myanmar on this list?  How many Myanmar terrorists have been caught trying to enter the US, or anywhere else?

Most likely trafficking and other illegal immigration practices.  It does not apply to tourists and what not.

 

[alex8912]

1 hour ago, heybruce said:

And many countries sell citizenship for affordable prices.  Are we going to ban people from those countries also?  https://corpocrat.com/2019/11/01/10-countries-that-sell-instant-citizenship-or-passports/

I don’t read links. No reason to. We are discussing Myanmar only so stay on topic. They should be banned for now for travel to USA. The human trafficking issue is also huge. They often arrive and never leave as well. 

[alex8912]

1 hour ago, Gweiloman said:

I wonder if Myanmar will reciprocate and stop the border running Americans. 

Let’s keep comparing apples and kangaroos and acting like you’re not. 

[justin case]

2 hours ago, heybruce said:

And many countries sell citizenship for affordable prices.  Are we going to ban people from those countries also?  https://corpocrat.com/2019/11/01/10-countries-that-sell-instant-citizenship-or-passports/

affordable ?  some countries give away citizenship, those illegals only have to promise to go work, contribute and follow the rules ... woehahahaha  ... 5 percent maybe are working

[heybruce]

1 hour ago, alex8912 said:

I don’t read links. No reason to. We are discussing Myanmar only so stay on topic. They should be banned for now for travel to USA. The human trafficking issue is also huge. They often arrive and never leave as well. 

Ok, on topic.  I don't know of any people from Myanmar who travel to the US.  I have never read of anyone from Myanmar being caught doing anything illegal in the US.  Burmese refugees who arrive in the US generally start as refugees in Thailand or Malaysia, not Myanmar.  I'd provide a link, but you don't read links.

 

Do you provide links?  I'd like to see support for your claim "They often arrive and never leave as well."

[heybruce]

19 minutes ago, justin case said:

affordable ?  some countries give away citizenship, those illegals only have to promise to go work, contribute and follow the rules ... woehahahaha  ... 5 percent maybe are working

 

Care to name the country that gives away citizenship on these terms?  Do you have a credible link to support your claim?

[Gweiloman]

1 hour ago, alex8912 said:

I don’t read links. No reason to. We are discussing Myanmar only so stay on topic. They should be banned for now for travel to USA. The human trafficking issue is also huge. They often arrive and never leave as well. 

 

1 hour ago, alex8912 said:

Let’s keep comparing apples and kangaroos and acting like you’re not. 

I read of many Americans coming to Thailand and overstaying their visa ie not leaving. Am yet to read of a single instance of a Burmese doing the same in America. 

[GinBoy2]

You are not understanding that this POTUS doesn't act based on facts or truth, but appeals to the gut instinct, of his base.

 

It's almost irrelevant if a single person from Myanmar entered the US and overstayed, yet alone did anything criminal or in anyway terrorist related.

 

Trump has, rather ingeniously, been able to harness the fear of 'the other' which is always deep instinctively in all of us, for his own political ends.

 

The good news is that US politics generally swings to the opposite, so maybe another 4 years of this nonsense, but sooner or later calmer heads will prevail  

[Tug]

I agree with ginboy2 with the exception that it’s closer to 10 months to wait for change not 4 years one thing one must rember about trump everything about trump is transactional in this case he imo is doing just what gin boy says pandering to his base

[alex8912]

21 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

 

I read of many Americans coming to Thailand and overstaying their visa ie not leaving. Am yet to read of a single instance of a Burmese doing the same in America. 

United States visa forum. Myanmar has a whole section. 

[JHolmesJr]

Democrats dont seem as outraged about this as they were previously.

Guess they got a new bone to play with.

[Scott]

Troll post removed.