Trump administration weighs expanding travel ban to over 30 nations after National Guard shooting
The Trump administration is weighing an expansion of its travel ban from 19 countries to more than 30.
The Trump administration is weighing an expansion of its travel ban from 19 countries to more than 30 in the wake of last week’s shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, DC.
The number of countries is preliminary, according to a CBS report.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recommended the US President to increase the travel ban to 30-32 countries, according to a CNN report.
Meeting the US President, Noem took to X to share that she had urged "a full travel ban on every damn country that's been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies."
"Our forefathers built this nation on blood, sweat, and the unyielding love of freedom—not for foreign invaders to slaughter our heroes, suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars, or snatch the benefits owed to AMERICANS," Noem wrote in her X post.
The Trump administration paused the immigration applications such as requests for green cards for people from 19 countries banned from travel earlier this year, as part of sweeping immigration changes in the wake of the shooting of two National Guard troops.
Also Read | Afghanistan on list as US pauses all immigration pleas from 19 non-European countries over 'security risk'
Which 19 countries have been affected?
Immigration-related decisions for 19 countries have been frozen after a new policy memo was posted Tuesday on the US Citizenship and Immigration Services website.
USCIS, which oversees all immigration benefit requests, outlined a temporary halt affecting a wide spectrum of cases, including green card and naturalization applications, for immigrants from countries the Trump administration has previously designated as high-risk.
The list of countries targeted in the memorandum includes Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, which were subjected to the most severe immigration restrictions in June, including a full suspension on entries with a few exceptions.
The memo notes that it will be up to agency director Joseph Edlow to determine when the pause is lifted.
In June, the administration barred travel to the US for citizens of 12 nations and imposed restricted access on seven more, citing national security concerns.
The travel ban applied to Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Restricted access affected people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. At the time, immigrants from those countries who were already living in the US before the ban took effect were not targeted.
That changes now.
Also Read | Trump to expand travel ban to 30 countries after DC shooting as curbs tighten
What's next?
According to USCIS, immigrants from these countries already inside the US, regardless of when they arrived, will now face heightened scrutiny.
The agency says it will conduct a comprehensive review of all “approved benefit requests” for individuals who entered the US during the Biden administration.
The move is being justified in part by the recent shooting near the White House during Thanksgiving week, where two National Guard troops were attacked by a suspect identified as an Afghan national; one soldier was killed and another wounded.
“In light of identified concerns and the threat to the American people, USCIS has determined that a comprehensive re-review, potential interview, and re-interview of all aliens from high-risk countries of concern who entered the United States on or after January 20, 2021 is necessary,” the memo states.
Within 90 days, the agency plans to compile a prioritized list of immigrants for re-review and, if needed, refer cases to immigration enforcement or other law enforcement bodies.
Last week, the USCIS director said on social media that the agency would be reexamining green card applications from people belonging to “countries of concern.” The latest directive, however, goes further, laying out the full scope of who will be affected.
USCIS also announced last week that it was pausing all asylum decisions, while the State Department suspended visa processing for Afghans who assisted the US war effort. And days before the shooting, USCIS said in a separate memo that the administration would review every refugee case approved during the Biden years.
