Trump administration will expand travel ban to more than 30 countries, Noem says
WASHINGTON– The Trump administration will expand a travel ban on citizens of certain countries to more than 30 people, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said, in the latest restriction to come since a man from Afghanistan was charged with shooting two National Guard members.
The expansion would build on a travel ban already announced in June by the Republican administration, which barred travel to the United States by citizens of 12 countries and restricted access to the United States to people from seven other countries. In a social media post earlier this week, Noem suggested more countries would be included.
Noem, who spoke Thursday night in an interview with Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham, declined to provide further details, saying President Donald Trump was considering which countries would be included.
Following the National Guard shooting, the administration has already tightened restrictions on the 19 countries included in the initial travel ban, including Afghanistan, Somalia, Iran and Haiti, among others.
Ingraham asked Noem if the travel ban extended to 32 countries and asked which countries would be added to the 19 announced earlier this year.
“I won’t be specific on the number, but it’s over 30. And the president continues to evaluate countries,” Noem said.
“If they don’t have a stable government there, if they don’t have a country that can sustain itself and tell us who these individuals are and help us control them, why should we allow people from that country to come here to the United States? said Noème.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment on when an updated travel ban might take effect and which countries would be included.
The additions to the June travel ban are the latest in a series of rapidly unfolding immigration actions since the Thanksgiving week shooting of two National Guard troops in Washington.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who emigrated to the United States from Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal, was charged with first-degree murder after one of the two victims, West Virginia National Guard specialist Sarah Beckstrom, died from her injuries in the Nov. 26 shooting. The second victim, Sgt. Andrew Wolfe was seriously injured. Lakanwal has pleaded not guilty.
The Trump administration has argued that more checks are needed to ensure that people entering or already in the United States do not pose a threat. Critics say the administration is traumatizing people who have already undergone extensive screening to come to the United States and that the new measures amount to collective punishment.
In just over a week, the administration suspended asylum decisions, suspended processing of immigration benefits for people residing in the United States from the 19 travel-banned countries, and suspended visas for Afghans who contributed to the U.S. war effort.
On Thursday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it was shortening the validity period of work permits for some applicants, such as refugees and asylum seekers, so that they would be required to reapply more often and pass more frequent screenings.
