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Trump Administration Officially Expands Travel Ban to Six New Countries

News
by Eben Diskin Feb 3, 2020

On Friday, January 31, 2020, President Trump officially added six countries to the 2017 travel ban: Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania.

The six new countries are facing travel and immigration restrictions to the United States because they do not meet necessary passport-security conditions and information-sharing requirements related to terrorism, officials with the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department told The New York Times.

Nationals of Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, and Nigeria wanting to immigrate to the United States will not be considered for visas. People from Sudan and Tanzania will no longer be able to move to the US via the diversity visa lottery. According to the Times, “nonimmigrant visas, including those for students and certain temporary workers, as well as visas reserved for potential employees with specialized skills, will not be affected by the ban.”

The restrictions are scheduled to start on February 22, 2020.

The expansion adds to a list of seven countries that already are denied immigrant and non-immigrant visas, which includes Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela, and North Korea.

A version of this article was previously published on January 23, 2020, and was updated on February 3, 2020 with more information.

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