President Trump adds Africa’s biggest country, Nigeria, as well as
Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan and Tanzania, to his restricted
travel list.
The Trump administration on Friday
added six countries to the nations facing stringent travel restrictions,
virtually blocking immigration from Africa’s most populous nation,
Nigeria, and from Myanmar, where refugees are fleeing genocide.
Beside
Nigeria, varying degrees of restrictions will hit three other African
countries, Eritrea, Sudan and Tanzania, and one former Soviet state,
Kyrgyzstan. Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya could also be caught in the
crossfire. The total number of countries on the restricted travel list
now stands at 13.
Immigrant visas, issued mostly to foreigners
intending to live in the United States, will be banned from Nigeria,
Myanmar, Eritrea and Kyrgyzstan. The ban would prevent immigrants from
Sudan and Tanzania from obtaining diversity visas. Homeland Security and
State Department officials said some immigrants would be able to obtain
waivers from the restrictions.
The proclamation, which President Trump was expected to sign on Friday, will take effect on February 22.
The
administration has argued that the ban, enacted in 2017 to restrict
travel from Muslim-majority countries, is necessary to ensure that
countries satisfy security requirements for travel into the United
States, or face restrictions until they do.
The expansion of the
restrictions, which already affected more than 135 million people in
seven countries, is likely to hinder more than 12,300 potential
immigrants from resettling in the United States or reuniting with their
family. The effect on Nigeria, not only Africa’s most populous country
but also its largest economy, could be particularly severe.
A
United States government official said the administration was adding
Nigeria and Tanzania to the list because of the number of people who
come from the African countries on a visa and end up illegally staying
in the United States. The official said Sudan and Eritrea had not
satisfied the administration’s information-sharing requirements.