People from 12 countries are already banned from entering the United States – and now Donald Trump is said to be thinking of adding another 36 countries to the list.
An internal memo about it reportedly says these countries have 60 days to meet new requirements, or face restrictions too.
They include 25 countries in Africa, four in Asia, four in the Caribbean, and three in Oceania (scroll down to see the full list), and include strategic US partners Egypt and Djibouti.
A form of the controversial travel ban was introduced during the president’s first term, and scrapped when he lost power.
Bringing it in again earlier this month to fulfill a campaign pledge, he said: ‘We don’t want ’em.
‘Very simply, we cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen.’
The Washington Post said that concerns varied for each country, but were things such as lack of reliable ID documents, lack of a ‘competent or cooperative central government authority’, a high number of citizens who previously overstayed their visas, or claims of ‘antisemitic and anti-American activity in the United States’ by their citizens.
But the paper reported it said that if a country was willing to accept foreign nationals deported from the US in a ‘safe third country’ agreement, they could reconsider the ban even if other reported issues were not resolved.
Which new countries were listed on Trump’s travel ban?
According to the Post, the leaked memo included these countries:
- Angola
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Burkina Faso
- Cabo Verde
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Ethiopia
- Egypt
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Ivory Coast
- Kyrgyzstan
- Liberia
- Malawi
- Mauritania
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Senegal
- South Sudan
- Syria
- Tanzania
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
- Vanuatu
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
It was not clear when anything would practically change at border control if these countries were added to the list.
The countries already under a travel ban are: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Additionally, travel from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela has been partially restricted.
A State Department spokesperson told the newspaper that it would not comment on internal deliberations or communications.
The White House did not respond immediately to their request for comment.
