The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Trump expands travel ban to six more countries

2020-02-21T06:20:56.795Z


Nationals of Nigeria, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Sudan and Tanzania are barred from entering the United States on Friday. This decision, which comes in the middle of the presidential campaign, revives the debates that appeared in 2017.


A new travel ban in the United States, enacted by President Donald Trump, takes effect on Friday. This time it targets potential immigrants from Nigeria, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Sudan and Tanzania. The move affects thousands of people and reopens the debate over whether this policy is discriminatory, while Trump has made the crackdown on immigration a major issue in the campaign for his re-election.

Also: American Presidential: Who Can Beat Donald Trump?

Of the six countries added to the ban, four are African nations and three have predominantly Muslim populations. Democrats and immigration advocates accuse the Trump administration of seeking to extend its original 2017 ban that targeted Muslim-majority countries and to focus disproportionately on African countries. The Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, criticized the ban, calling it "discrimination disguised in politics" .

New restrictions

The United States will effectively suspend the issuance of visas that can lead to permanent residence for nationals of Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar and Nigeria. Temporary visas for tourists, business people, students and workers from these countries will not be affected. Washington will also stop issuing "diversity visas" - to nationals of countries with low immigration rates to the United States - to nationals of Sudan and Tanzania.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said in an interview with reporters that the six countries concerned have failed to meet U.S. security and information exchange standards, justifying these reasons. new restrictions. Wolf particularly highlighted the problems encountered in the exchange of information on criminals and suspected terrorists.

The administration assured that the new ban was closely adapted. Investor visas, which lead to permanent residence, are prohibited, but the restrictions do not apply to skilled foreign workers entering the United States on H-1B visas, according to a Department of Homeland Security official. These visas are temporary, but can lead to permanent residence. Immigrants already in the United States, or with an already approved visa, are exempt from the ban, the official added. People with pending visa applications, some of whom have waited for years, will have their applications denied.

A measure very popular with Republicans

All applicants can request a waiver, a process already in place since the first travel ban . But the waiver request process is accused of being opaque and difficult to understand. Visa restrictions do not apply to refugees, but the Trump administration has capped their authorized number in the United States at 18,000 for 2020, the lowest level in decades.

So far, the ban has included Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. North Korea and Venezuela also face visa restrictions, but these measures affect relatively few travelers. The new travel ban, which comes into effect on February 21, is therefore in addition to the previous restrictions.

In 2015, while running for president, Trump called for "a complete and complete halt to Muslim immigration to the United States . " Only 9 months before the presidential election, the Republican leader intends to be re-elected, notably relaunching the debate on immigration with his travel ban policy, very popular with Republican supporters.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-02-21

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-27T16:45:54.081Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.