President Donald Trump yesterday issued new restrictions on entry into the United States for foreign nationals from 24 countries including Nigeria, citing “demonstrated, persistent, and severe deficiencies in screening, vetting, and information-sharing” that threaten the national security of the United States.
The proclamation was made and uploaded on the White House website in the form of a facts sheet entitled “President Donald J. Trump Further Restricts and Limits the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the Security of the United States.”
Going by the fact sheet, the Proclamation extends the full suspension of entry by nationals of the original 12 high-risk countries, as determined by new security reviews. The Proclamation also imposes full suspensions on nationals of the following countries:
Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, Syria.
Individuals who hold passports issued or validated by the Palestinian Authority are also suspended.
The policy retains partial suspension measures and introduces new ones that cover other countries. Partial measures would now be applicable to nationals of Burundi, Cuba, Togo, Venezuela, and to the following additional countries: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Such limitations apply to B-1 non-immigrants, B-2 non-immigrants, B-1/B-2 non-immigrants, F-1 (students), M-1 (vocational), and J-1 (exchange) visa holders; although exemptions may exist in favour of permanent residents, foreign diplomats, visa holders, or those considered to have U.S. national interest advantages.
“The actions are required in order to ‘prevent the entry of foreign nationals about whom the United States lacks sufficient information to assess the risks they pose,’” enforce United States immigration law, and “protect national security interests,” according to the administration. “Full bans” completely prohibit the nationals of certain countries from entering the United States and issuing most new visas, while “partial bans” limit or suspend certain types of visas.
