The United States government has expanded a sweeping pause on legal immigration applications to include those filed by people from an additional 20 countries, including Nigeria, that President Trump added to his "travel ban" proclamation this week.
A U.S. official, who requested anonymity, discussed the internal changes that have not been formally announced with CBS News.
Trump expanded the "travel ban" proclamation to include 20 additional nations, fully barring immigrants and travellers from five new countries and partially restricting the entry of people from another 15 nations.
The U.S. official told CBS News that USCIS has expanded its suspension of immigration cases to include the new nationalities added to Mr. Trump's earlier proclamation.
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The pause will now affect nationals of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria, the new countries facing full travel bans.
It will also impact those hailing from Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
These are the last set of countries face partial restrictions under the latest proclamation.
Previously...
Previously, the suspension of immigration cases applied to nationals of Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, Cuba, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Laos, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Yemen and Venezuela. In his latest proclamation, Mr. Trump imposed a full entry ban on citizens of Laos and Sierra Leone, which previously faced partial restrictions.
In Summary...
Fully-banned countries are:
- Burkina Faso
- Mali
- Niger
- South Sudan
- Syria
- Laos
- Sierra Leone
Partially banned
- Angola
- Antigua and Barbuda
In a statement posed on social media late Thursday, USCIS Director Joseph Edlow appeared to reference the expansion.
"USCIS is conducting a comprehensive review of anyone from anywhere who poses a threat to the U.S., including those identified in the President's latest proclamation to restore law and order in our nation's immigration system," Edlow wrote.
Taken together, Mr. Trump's latest "travel ban" decree affects nationals of over 60% of the countries in Africa and roughly 20% of all nations across the globe.
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Trump has argued the broad restrictions are designed to safeguard national security and address concerns about the ability to vet people from the affected nations.
But critics of his administration have denounced the policy as discriminatory, since it mainly applies to nations in Africa and Asia. CBS News
