Is this the comeback of the “Travel Ban”, these entry restrictions on American soil imposed for certain countries during the first term of Donald Trump? Between 2017 and 2021, the Republican President had targeted citizens from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, who were no longer allowed to enter the United States. This time, his administration could considerably enlarge the spectrum. According to the New York Timeswho was able to speak with American officials on condition of anonymity, nearly 43 countries should be targeted by more or less strong restrictions.
Three categories of countries would thus be distinguished. The first, “red”, would understand for the moment 11 countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen. For the citizens of these countries, entry to American soil would simply be prohibited, like what had been done during the first Trump mandate.
The “Orange” category, the second, would have 10 countries so far: Belarus, Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Burma, Pakistan, Russia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Turkmenistan. For these states, the deliverance of visas would prove to be strictly limited. “In this case, wealthy business travelers may be allowed to enter, but not people traveling with an immigrant or tourist visa,” said the New York Times. This would not represent a fundamental difference for the average citizens of these ten countries, but only for its economic or political elite. Even if the American newspaper says that “the citizens on this list would also be subject to compulsory personal interviews for obtaining a visa”.
Finally, the “yellow” category would include 22 countries, with an overwhelming majority of African countries such as Angola, Benin, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo or Mali, or countries like Cambodia or the Caribbean Islands of Saint-Kitts-et-Nevis or Antigua-et-Barbuda. These states would have 60 days to fill certain “gaps” pointed out by the United States. For example, not to communicate information on travelers arriving on American soil – security deemed insufficient for the issuance of passports – or the sale of citizenship to people from prohibited countries, as reported by the New York Times. Without these “improvements”, these nations could be placed in the first two categories.
A list not yet final
This list is not yet final, as the New York Times and the press agency Reuters. It would have been drawn up by the United States Department of State – the equivalent of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – for several weeks, and must still be validated by the White House. A large vagueness also exists concerning the citizens of all these countries already with a visa, in order to know if they will be exempt from this ban or if it will be canceled, but also for those who have already obtained their “Green Card”, the permanent resident card in the United States.
As soon as he arrived at the White House in 2021, Joe Biden had decided to remove the “Travel Ban” imposed by Donald Trump, calling him “stain on our conscience […] incompatible with our long history of reception of people from all confessions and no confession “.
The return of these restrictions on the entry to American soil is an integral part of the Donald Trump project to very much want to reduce immigration. The American president, who has already frozen the refugee admission program to the United States and almost all of the aid from abroad, had asked, only a few days after his comeback At the Oval Office, its government to identify countries whose citizens should be prohibited from entry for security reasons. A project which would therefore be very close to seeing the light of day, with a much more important magnitude than during its first mandate.