President Donald Trump of the United States of America has imposed a new travel ban restricting immigration from Nigeria, and five other countries.
This move is an expansion of his administration’s policy blocking travel from certain nations.
In line with the new policy, citizens from Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar, and Kyrgyzstan won’t be allowed to apply for visas to immigrate to the U.S.
According to the US government, the policy was designed to tighten security for countries that don’t comply with the U.S. minimum security standards or cooperate to prevent illegal immigration.
The Wall Street Journal reports that in line with the policy, two other countries, Sudan and Tanzania, will be barred from participating in the diversity visa lottery, which randomly awards green cards to 50,000 immigrants from underrepresented countries annually.
According to US officials, the new restrictions are set to take effect on Feb 21 and will apply only to new visa applications. Immigrants who were issued valid visas before that date will still be able to move to the U.S.
The problems facing the latest six countries to be hit with restrictions largely stem from deficiencies in sharing intelligence with the U.S. and Interpol, in addition to technological issues pertaining to passports and databases, the officials said.
Officials said the nations could make moves to improve their status.
One country that nearly ended up on the list was able to improve its systems in advance of the new directive and sidestep the restrictions, the officials said.
Trump has made restricting immigration, particularly from Muslim and poorer countries, a cornerstone of his policy as president.
When he launched his campaign for the White House in 2015, Trump called for a shutdown of all Muslim migration to the U.S.
