US President Donald Trump adds Syria, six other nations and Palestinian Authority passport holders to full travel ban, citing security threats.
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has expanded a US travel ban to include nationals from seven additional countries and holders of Palestinian Authority passports.
The White House said the move targets foreigners who “intend to threaten” Americans or who would “undermine or destabilize its culture, government, institutions or founding principles.”
Syria is among the seven nations newly subjected to a full entry ban.
The other countries added are Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Laos.
The Trump administration had already informally barred travel from Palestinian Authority passport holders.
This action aligns with US solidarity with Israel against other Western nations recognising a Palestinian state.
Partial travel restrictions were also imposed on citizens of Nigeria and several other African and Caribbean nations.
Trump has recently used increasingly loaded language in denouncing African-origin immigrants.
At a recent rally, he said the United States was only taking people from “shithole countries” and should seek immigrants from Norway and Sweden.
He also recently described Somalis as “garbage” following a scandal involving fictitious contracts in Minnesota.
Countries remaining on the existing full travel ban include Afghanistan, Chad, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Sudan and Yemen.
The White House proclamation cited high crime rates and problems with passport record-keeping for some listed nations.
It acknowledged “significant progress” by Turkmenistan, which will now be able to secure US non-immigrant visas.
The expansion follows the killing of two US troops and a civilian in Syria, which Trump has moved to rehabilitate internationally. – AFP
