Nationals from Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Syria will be subject to full travel restrictions starting Thursday.
A full travel ban for nationals from multiple countries that was signed by President Donald Trump went into effect on Jan. 1, according to text of the order.
On Dec. 16, the president signed executive orders totally blocking the travel of nationals from Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Syria, as well as individuals holding Palestinian Authority documents. That comes in addition to travel limitations that were placed on other countries earlier in the year that are already in effect.
The White House has said the restrictions are needed for national security and public safety purposes, noting the presence of terrorist groups in these countries. Many of the nations listed also have high visa overstay rates, and some have refused to take back their nationals during U.S. deportation procedures, according to the administration.
The proclamation also continued full travel restrictions that were previously imposed on Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, which went into effect last year.
Partial restrictions are in effect for Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe as well as Burundi, Cuba, Togo, and Venezuela, the proclamation stated.
The Central Asian country of Turkmenistan was the only nation to be removed from any of the Trump administration’s travel restriction lists, according to the White House in an update last month. That goes into effect on Jan. 1.
The new restrictions on Palestinians come months after the administration imposed limits that make it nearly impossible for anyone holding a Palestinian Authority passport from receiving travel documents to visit the United States for business, work, pleasure, or educational purposes. Now, people with Palestinian Authority passports cannot emigrate to the United States.
In offering its reason why, the administration said last month that several “U.S.-designated terrorist groups operate actively in the West Bank or Gaza Strip and have murdered American citizens.” The administration also said the recent war in those areas had “likely resulted in compromised vetting and screening abilities.”
