OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 10:40 AM PT — Sunday, February 2, 2020
President Trump is adding six more African, Asian and eastern
European countries to the U.S.’s travel order list. This latest move to
reshape U.S. immigration policies was implemented on Friday. It will
restrict citizens of Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, Eritrea, Myanmar and
Kyrgyzstan from obtaining certain types of visas.The travel order was said to be a revision of the president’s signature policies, which were previously challenged in the Supreme Court. Unlike the travel restrictions on citizens of Iran, Somalia and other Middle Eastern countries, the new policy will not affect non-immigrant visas. Those affected will still be able to visit the U.S. for tourism, education, business or medical purposes.
Some viewed the move as an inconvenience, especially citizens in Nigeria.
”Relocating to the U.S. is actually very hard, but it is somewhere I want to visit and probably relocate to if possible,” said one Nigerian resident. “But now that sounds like something that is not even possible.”
Homeland Security officials said the new travel order was implemented because those six countries have failed to comply with U.S. security requirements for passports and information sharing.
White House spokesman Hogan Gidley has defended the administration’s stance.
“If a country wants to fully participate in U.S. immigration programs, they should meet U.S. requirements,” he said.
During the World Economic Forum in Davos, the president reiterated that ensuring the safety of the American people is his top priority.
“Our country has to be safe, you see what is going on in the world,” he said. “So we have a very strong travel ban and we’ll be adding a few countries to it.”
The administration claimed the move will allow these six countries to have a “greater prospect” for improvement. The proclamation will officially go into effect on February 22nd.
