An Update on Trump’s New Travel Ban

(Cr: TheWhiteHouse)

By: Julian Mok

Lexington — January 31st marked the expansion of the Trump administration’s travel ban, formally adding Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania to the list. Officials noted that the updated ban would focus on foreigners seeking permanent residence rather than all travelers.

Citizens of the countries included in the ban could still be eligible for special immigrant visas if they do federal work or have faced acute hardship in their country. Officials stress that they are talking to each of the six countries about remedying their particular security deficiency, suggesting that there is the possibility that some countries could be removed from the list once “baseline” security measures are met.

Administration officials have tried to make it clear that, “the restrictions are the result of these countries’ unwillingness or inability to adhere to our identity management, information sharing, national security and public safety assessment criteria.”

Cr: Baji

Security deficiencies remain a main reason for the ban, saying that these six countries were unwilling or unable to adhere to baseline security criteria. This includes insufficient information sharing from governments about criminal and terrorism data, the lack of electronic passport systems and issues with Interpol reporting methods. 

The US currently receives very few immigrants from Kyrgyzstan, Sudan, Tanzania, Myanmar and Eritrea. Nigeria will be most affected by the ban. The most populated and most economically robust country in Africa is also the largest source country for African immigrants to America.

From 2016-2018, 41,000 Nigerian immigrants came to the US. Despite this proclamation, Trump remains surprisingly popular in Nigeria. According to one writer, most Nigerians perceive Trump as “tough, no-nonsense, blunt, pro-religion and entertaining.” In the past, Trump has also expressed interest in deepening economic ties between the two countries. The long-term effects of this ban on US-Nigeria relations remain to be seen.