An internal US State Department cable reveals that the administration of President Donald Trump is considering nearly tripling the number of countries subject to a travel ban. According to multiple media reports, a memo was sent to diplomats from about two dozen African nations, along with others in Central Asia, the Caribbean and Oceania, requiring that they detail how they will begin to address US demands and comply with new State Department requirements.
The Washington Post first broke the story of the memo, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which characterises 36 countries as having “vetting and screening information [that] is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension” of entry of their citizens to the US. Countries that fail to meet Washington’s demands for rectification could be recommended for a travel ban as soon as August.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration fully banned travellers from 12 countries: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Travellers from seven more were partially banned: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
The countries that could face a full or a partial ban if they do not address US demands within the next 60 days are: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Côte D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, South Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
[See more: Two more countries issue warnings over US travel]
The State Department alleges that some countries lack competence or cooperation in producing reliable identity documents and argues that their passports are of “questionable security.” Other countries are accused of not cooperating in facilitating the removal of nationals ordered removed or for nationals overstaying their visas.
The nationals of some countries are meanwhile being accused of involvement in acts of terrorism in the US, or allegedly antisemitic and un-American activity. The cable noted that not all of these accusations pertain to every country listed. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin claimed in a statement to National Public Radio that limiting entry of individuals from the targeted countries “will help secure the American homeland and make our communities safer.”
Trump announced a ban on travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries early in his first term as well, going through several iterations before landing on a version that was upheld by the country’s Supreme Court, which included Eritrea, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Venezuela and Yemen.
The list bears a close resemblance to those countries subject to bans in Trump’s second administration – and those he openly disparaged as “shithole countries” in 2018, during the court battles over his first travel ban. The Democratic administration of Joe Biden, which succeeded Trump’s first administration, rescinded that ban, reopening applications for visas, as well as for legal permanent resident cards.
