Trump expands travel bans and sanctions to include 20 more countries

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it is expanding travel restrictions to 20 more countries and the Palestinian Authority, doubling the number of countries affected by sweeping limits announced earlier this year on who can travel to and immigrate to the United States.

The Trump administration has added five more countries to the list of countries it has banned travelers from traveling to the U.S. in a document released by the Palestinian Authority, and imposed new restrictions on 15 other countries.

The move is part of ongoing efforts by the administration to tighten U.S. entry standards for travel and immigration, which critics say unfairly prevent people from traveling from a wide range of countries. The administration suggested it would expand the sanctions after the arrest of an Afghan civilian suspect in the shooting of two National Guard troops over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Individuals with visas, lawful permanent residents of the US or certain visa categories such as diplomats or athletes, or whose entry into the country is believed to serve US interests, are exempt from all restrictions. It was not immediately clear when the new restrictions would take effect.

In June, President Donald Trump announced that citizens of 12 countries would be banned from coming to the United States and that citizens of seven other countries would face sanctions. This decision revived the hallmark policy of his first term.

The ban placed strict restrictions on visitors from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, and visitors from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

On Tuesday, the Republican administration announced it was expanding the list of countries the U.S. is barred from entering to include Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria. The administration has completely banned people with Palestinian-authority-issued travel documents from traveling, the latest U.S. travel ban against Palestinians. South Sudan was already facing significant travel restrictions.

A further 15 countries have also been added to the list of countries facing partial sanctions: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Ivory Coast, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

This restriction applies to both individuals traveling to the US as visitors or immigrating there.

The Trump administration said in its announcement that many of the countries it imposed travel bans had “widespread corruption, fraud or unreliable citizenship documents and criminal records” that made it difficult for their citizens to be vetted for travel to the US.

It also said that some countries had high rates of visa overstays, refused to take back citizens the US wanted to deport or had a “general lack of stability and government control”, which made vetting difficult. It also cites immigration enforcement, foreign policy and national security concerns.

An Afghan man accused of shooting two National Guard soldiers near the White House has pleaded not guilty to murder and assault charges. After that incident, the administration announced a wave of immigration restrictions, including additional restrictions on people from those initial 19 countries who were already in the US.

News of the expanded travel ban is likely to face stiff opposition from critics who argue the administration is using national security concerns to collectively keep people from different countries out.

“This expanded ban is not about national security but rather another shameful attempt to demonize people because of where they come from,” said Laurie Ball Cooper, vice president of U.S. legal programs at the International Refugee Assistance Project.

The Trump administration also upgraded restrictions on some countries — Laos and Sierra Leone — that were previously on the partially restricted list and, in one case — Turkmenistan, saying the country had improved enough to warrant easing some restrictions on travelers from that country. Everything else remains in place from previous travel restrictions announced in June, the administration said.

The new restrictions on Palestinians come months after the administration imposed restrictions that make it nearly impossible for anyone with a Palestinian Authority passport to obtain travel documents to visit the US for business, work, pleasure or educational purposes. Tuesday’s announcement goes further, banning people with Palestinian Authority passports from traveling to the US.

In justifying its decision on Tuesday, the administration said “several US-designated terrorist groups have operated actively in the West Bank or Gaza Strip and have killed US citizens.” The administration also said that recent fighting in those areas “may have compromised vetting and screening capabilities.”