As reported by The New York Times, the proposed travel ban may impact at least 40 nations.
The administration of President Donald Trump is considering a new travel ban that could affect residents from numerous countries to varying extents, according to The New York Times.
Citing unnamed officials, the report released on Friday indicated that the draft list prepared by the US government included 43 countries, categorized into three levels of travel restrictions.
The first category consists of 10 countries, such as Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Cuba, and North Korea, which would face a complete suspension of visa issuance.
The second category includes five countries – Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, and South Sudan – that would endure partial visa suspensions impacting tourist and student visas as well as certain immigration visas, though there may be some exemptions.
The final category comprises 26 nations, including Belarus, Pakistan, and Turkmenistan, which may experience a partial suspension of US visa processing unless their governments take steps to rectify deficiencies within 60 days, as noted in the draft memo.
An anonymous US official informed Reuters that modifications to the list are possible, and it has yet to receive approval from administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
On January 20, Trump issued an executive order mandating increased security vetting for all foreigners aiming to enter the US, aiming to identify any national security threats.
This order instructed various cabinet members to compile a list of countries by March 21, from which travel should be partially or entirely suspended due to “insufficient vetting and screening information.”
This directive from the US president is part of a broader immigration enforcement strategy initiated at the start of his second term. He outlined his approach during an October 2023 address, committing to limit entry to individuals from the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and “any other regions that pose a threat to our security.”
Nevertheless, the current travel ban proposal echoes Trump’s initial term ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations, a policy that underwent multiple revisions before being affirmed by the Supreme Court in 2018.
This earlier ban specifically targeted citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, provoking widespread global backlash and various domestic legal challenges. Iraq and Sudan were eventually removed from the list; however, in 2018, the Supreme Court upheld a later version of the ban for the remaining countries, along with North Korea and Venezuela.
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