With the stroke of a pen, Donald Trump has made it harder for any foreign national to enter the United States. Though this recent action includes five additional countries to the travel ban imposed, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria are the latest to be added, bringing the total number of banned countries up to 12. The announcement comes in a deeper backdrop of increased security worries after a deadly assault in Syria.
The surprise proclamation was issued by Kristi Noem, the state’s homeland security secretary, on December 5. The new restrictions are part of an ongoing effort to safeguard American citizens from potential threats posed by foreign nationals. The White House stated that these measures are “necessary to prevent the entry of foreign nationals about whom the United States lacks sufficient information to assess the risks they pose.”
The expanded order applies complete bans on citizens of five countries. Moreover, powers have named 15 other countries that will be subjected to a lesser degree of restrictions. Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire and Dominica are just a few of these countries. Further, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia and Zimbabwe are featured.
Syria of all places is a particularly notable country to be restricted, given that this move came just days after an attack from the Islamic State. These attacks have tragically cost the lives of three Americans—two soldiers and a civilian interpreter—since this attack in Syria. The White House fact sheet emphasized that “while the country is working to address its security challenges in close coordination with the United States, Syria still lacks an adequate central authority for issuing passports or civil documents and does not have appropriate screening and vetting measures.”
This announcement follows a thorough review of the vetting process for foreign nationals who enter the US. Such attention comes in the wake of recent tragedies featuring asylum grantees. The first suspected shooter associated with an attack on American soil has been identified. This person is an Afghan national who, at one point, was on the CIA’s payroll working in one of its units in Afghanistan. This person came to the US during the Afghanistan evacuation in Fall 2021. Earlier this year, the two were approved for asylum after going through the asylum-seeking process – including all required vetting protocols.
In response to these changes, national security was featured as the main theme of the administration’s immigration policy rollout which President Trump announced. He stated that it is “the President’s duty to take action to ensure that those seeking to enter our country will not harm the American people.”
“It is the President’s duty to take action to ensure that those seeking to enter our country will not harm the American people.” – White House proclamation
As these restrictions go into place, the US government is looking to augment its capacity to monitor and manage immigration more efficiently. The administration’s goal should continue to be addressing legitimate security threats and hampering an international relationship complicated by those same affected countries.