During his first term as President Trump tightened up immigration rules for nationals arriving from Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria and Tanzania.
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The Trump administration is preparing to reinstate the controversial travel ban that sparked airport chaos and an international backlash during his first presidency.
On Jan 20, 2025, Trump instructed his cabinet to compile a list of countries with insufficient “vetting and screening” processes which should be considered for a new travel ban.
Trump promised to “restore the travel ban” on day one of his presidency, which did not happen, but he is making moves to reinstate the policy.
[…] On Jan 20, the president issued an executive order directing his cabinet to draft a list of countries “for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.”
He ordered that list to be compiled within 60 days, meaning we should know more about Trump’s second travel ban around March 21.
Which countries will be banned?
No official list has been issued, and when probed on which countries could be targeted by a fresh travel ban, President Trump responded: “Wouldn’t that be a stupid thing for me to say?”
Reuters reports that Pakistan and Afghanistan will likely be included. It is also expected that some of the countries that faced tighter entry restrictions during Trump’s first presidency could be targeted once again. The New York Times predicts Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen could be included on the list.
A draft recommendation seen by the New York Times suggests that there could also be an “orange” group of countries, whose access will be restricted but not outlawed (business travellers, not tourists, could be permitted entry, for example). There could also be a third “yellow” category of countries which would be given 60 days to make changes, such as improving seemingly inadequate security practices for issuing passports or to stop selling citizenship to people from banned nations.
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