The Trump administration announced Friday it is restricting the ability of citizens of Nigeria, Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan and Tanzania to get certain immigration visas to travel to the United States, according to officials with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and State Department, but it is not a blanket travel ban. Belarus was originally on the list, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo just made a visit there touting a desire for improved commercial ties. The administration is citing “security concerns” and fear of terrorism, but interestingly, has not moved to restrict travel or sanction Saudi Arabia, whose nationals committed the September 11 terror attacks and most recently, the mass shooting at the US Naval Base in Pensacola.
The announcement comes as Trump seems determined to dredge up his “greatest hits” of the 2016 campaign and double-down on his anti-immigrant rhetoric, including shutting down legal immigration and all but ending admission of refugees and asylum-seekers.
It comes just over three years after Trump first announced he would impose a travel ban targeted at several Muslim-majority nations. An altered version of that ban was later upheld by the Supreme Court, and travel from Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia and Yemen is still restricted. The administration separately restricted travel from North Korea and Venezuela as well.
"One particular country jumps out from the list compiled — as Muslims and other ethnic minorities flee persecution in Myanmar, after being subjected to one atrocious crime after another with devastating results, including mass killings, rapes, and the burning of entire villages, the U.S. makes the unconscionable decision to deny them welcome," Amnesty International USA executive director Margaret Huang said in a statement.
The American Civil Liberties Union accused Trump of "doubling-down on his signature anti-Muslim policy."
In reaction, Vice President Joe Biden, running for president, issued this statement:
Yesterday, Donald Trump further diminished the United States in the eyes of the world by expanding his travel ban, placing new restrictions on the residents of six more nations that limit who is allowed to come to the United States. Three years ago, he took aim at Muslim-majority nations. This time, he targeted primarily African nations — including Nigeria, the largest economy and the most populous nation on the continent, and Sudan, a country striving to transition to civilian rule after decades of dictatorship.
The “Muslim Ban,” this new “African Ban,” Trump’s atrocious asylum and refugee policies — they are all designed to make it harder for black and brown people to immigrate to the United States. It’s that simple. They are racist. They are xenophobic. And there is no evidence that they do anything to make us safer. If anything, they endanger the best tools we have to fight terrorism — our globe-spanning network of alliances and partnerships. They erode our moral standing in the world and make it less likely that other nations will work with us to take on terrorist threats before they can reach our shores. Immigrants from each of these countries and their broader diaspora communities here in the United States enrich the larger fabric of American life as our friends and neighbors and make vital contributions to our economy. They make our nation stronger.
The United States has a meaningful history of offering safety and opportunity to peoples of every nation — no matter where they come from, no matter if they are rich or poor, no matter the faith they follow. Donald Trump is doing everything in his power to destroy that legacy. It’s a disgrace, and we cannot let him succeed.