The Trump administration is considering issuing travel restrictions to citizens of dozens of countries as part of the new ban, according to sources familiar with issues and internal memos seen by Reuters.
The memo shows a total of 41 countries divided into three separate groups. The first groups of 10 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Cuba and North Korea, will be set up for full visa suspension.
In the second group, five countries, Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar and South Sudan, will face partial suspensions affecting tourists, student visas and other immigrant visas, with a few exceptions.
In the third group, a total of 26 countries, particularly Belarus, Pakistan and Turkmenistan, would be considered a partial suspension of US visa issuance if the government “does not make an effort to address the defect within 60 days,” the memo said.
The list has not yet been approved by the administration, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and could be revised, officials told the outlet.
The memo follows an executive order issued on January 20, which called for an enhanced security review of foreigners seeking admission to the US to detect national security threats, and instructed several cabinet members to submit a list of countries for partial or complete suspension due to the very insufficient review and screening information.
During the first Trump administration in 2017, a partial ban imposed on travelers from countries with a largely Muslim population was dubbed the “Muslim ban” by Trump and his aides.
14 months ago, after a mass shooting inspired by the Islamic State in San Bernardino, California, Trump was seeking a “full and complete” closure of Muslims entering the United States.
The new set of restrictions outlined in the memo follows a pledge by the president to enact immigration crackdown. In October 2023, Trump pledged to limit people in the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and “where else that threatens our safety.”
The move to ban or restrict immigration from the list of 43 countries will be in parallel with the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to enforce undocumented immigrants belonging to newly identified terrorist crime networks, including Trende Aragua in Venezuela, MS-13 in El Salvador, and 18th St. of Mexican-Americans.
At the same time, the Trump administration is cancelling its immigration status and is attempting to deport several foreign-born university graduates, including Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University alumnus who led the campus protests against Israeli war in Gaza last year.
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The second student who protested at the university last year was arrested last week by federal immigration agents. Leqaa Kordia has been arrested by an officer of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office in Newark. Authorities said she had overstayed her closed visa.
The administration has also revoked the visa for Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian citizen and doctoral student in Colombia. Srinivasan chose to “self-declaration” after the authorities said they were “involved in activities supporting Hamas.”
In a statement Friday, Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem said it was “a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States.”
“When we defend violence and terrorism that you should be revoked and you should not be in this country,” Noem added.
