Donald Trump is set to ban people from 43 countries from travelling to the US – with visas from Russia being ‘sharply restricted’.
The dramatic memo also sees key allies of Moscow placed under heavy sanctions as Belarusian travellers could see their dreams of travelling Stateside slashed, the New York Times reports.
The explosive immigration proposals come as the US president is wrestling with Putin and Zelensky over a ceasefire in Ukraine – warning last night that World War III could ‘very easily’ erupt if peace talks failed.
Alongside the warring state a vast swathe of nations from across the globe have been told their governments have 60 days to address deficiencies or they will remain on the list.
A memo shows countries divided into three groups- full and partial visa suspensions.
Many are from the Middle East and Africa, with Afghanistan, Cuba, Iran and North Korea among the 11 who face the most drastic measures.
In the second group, 10 countries would face partial suspensions that would impact tourist and student visas as well as other immigrant visas, with some exceptions.
And in a third group, a total of 22 countries would be considered for a partial suspension of US visa issuance if their governments ‘do not make efforts to address deficiencies within 60 days’, the memo said.
A US official cautioned there could be changes on the list and that it was yet to be approved by the administration, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, after it was reported on by the New York Times.
For many in America, the policy will hark back to Trump’s explosive ‘Muslim ban’ during his first term in office. Some of the countries in the new proposal were also on the 2017 list, but many more are new.Â
Some of the new additions share similar characteristics with the previous list, in that they are Muslim-majority or nonwhite, poor and are considered to be corrupt, the American newspaper adds.
Critics of the Trump presidency have been left baffled by some of the list, including Bhutan, from which travel is banned. Crime rates are considered to be low in the small Buddhist and Hindu nation, situated between China and India – neither of which appear on the list.
Trump issued an executive order on January 20 requiring intensified security vetting of any foreigners seeking admission to the U.S. to detect national security threats.
That order directed several cabinet members to submit by March 21 a list of countries from which travel should be partly or fully suspended because their ‘vetting and screening information is so deficient.’
Trump’s directive is part of an immigration crackdown that he launched at the start of his second term.
He previewed his plan in an October 2023 speech, pledging to restrict people from the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and ‘anywhere else that threatens our security.’
The list is said to have been drawn up several weeks ago by the State Department and had already been reviewed by embassies and regional bureaus.
Their advice is said to include whether the attitudes towards the countries on the memo are based in fact and whether there are policy reasons for not restricting immigration from any.
Rich businessmen or people on immigrant and tourist visas could still be allowed to enter the US on the ‘orange’ list, where visas are restricted.
But they would first be made to attend mandatory in-person interviews to obtain a travel pass, the New York Times reports.
It is not clear whether people with existing visas or green cards would be exempt from the ban.
The further category includes 22 nations with 60 days to address their supposed deficiencies before potentially being moved onto the other lists.
These issues are said to include not having enough security in issuing passports, failing to give enough information about travellers or selling citizenships to people from banned countries.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The list of countries that could be banned in full:
All travel banned:
Afghanistan
Bhutan
Cuba
Iran
Libya
North Korea
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Venezuela
Yemen
Visas sharply restricted:
Belarus
Eritrea
Haiti
Laos
Myanmar
Pakistan
Russia
Sierra Leone
South Sudan
Turkmenistan
Countries have 60 days to address concerns:
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Benin
Burkina Faso
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Chad
Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo
Dominica
Equatorial Guinea
Gambia
Liberia
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia
São Tomé and PrÃncipe
Vanuatu
Zimbabwe
