According to a proclamation published by the White House, the current list of 19 countries whose citizens were subject to a full or partial ban on travel to the USA was joined by seven countries with a full ban and another 15 with partial restrictions, which depend, among others, on: on the type of visa.
The first category included, among others: Syria – despite the new Syrian president's good relations with Trump – was in the second category, among others. Nigeria, which Trump accused of allowing attacks on Christians.
The changes come into force on January 1. The reasons given for the new restrictions and leaving the previously imposed ones in place included: inadequate databases of citizens of these countries, weak security procedures for issuing passports, or the percentage of people remaining in the US after their visas expire.
Trump's decision is a partial fulfillment of his promise made after the attack on National Guard soldiers by an immigrant from Afghanistan to completely and permanently stop immigration of people from the “third world”.
“Most of these countries … have woeful deficiencies in the control, verification and sharing of information. In at least one country there is a lack of mechanisms in hospitals to ensure the reporting of births, and widespread corruption, combined with a general lack of verification and poor documentation, makes it impossible for any foreigner to obtain any civil document, especially if the person is willing to pay or hire someone who specializes in helping with this type of fraud,” the document said.
As a result of the new changes, citizens of 19 countries are almost completely banned from entering the United States: Afghanistan, Burma, Burkina Faso, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Yemen, Mali, Niger, Laos, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Syria, as well as the Palestinian Authority.
Partial restrictions apply to Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Cuba, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Côte d'Ivoire, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
