Breaking: US Government bans Nigeria, 5 Others from applying for visas to immigrate
By Baba Rahman Just Event online
The Trump administration is banningimmigration from Nigeria, Africa's most
populous nation, and three other countries in
an expansion of its policy blocking travel
from seven other nations.
WASHINGTON-POST is reporting that
Citizens from Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar and
Kyrgyzstan won't be allowed to apply for visas
to immigrate to the U.S. under the policy,
which the Trump administration said was
designed to tighten security for countries that
don't comply with the U.S. minimum security standards or cooperate to prevent illegal immigration. Two other countries, Sudan and Tanzania, will be barred from participating in the diversity visa lottery, which randomly awards green cards to 50,000 immigrants from underrepresented countries annually. Many of
the recipients are from African countries.
The six countries will join a list of seven
nations, most of them Muslim-majority, that
faced significant travel restrictions
under President Trump's original travel ban, issued in 2017.
That order was the administration's third
attempt to craft a legally workable policy
fleshing out one of Mr. Trump's top campaign promises, after the first two versions were met with significant criticism and struck down by federal courts.
However, unlike five of those original
countries-Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and
Yemen-travelers from the newly added
nations who seek to visit the U.S. for business
or pleasure will still be permitted entry.
None of the original restrictions, which also
included bans against a small number of
citizens from Venezuela and North Korea, are
being lifted as part of Friday's action.
Immigrant advocates denounced the coming
restrictions ahead of their release, calling the
new policy an "African Ban" and criticizing
the administration for not imposing
restrictions on other, larger nations that also
don't cooperate with the U.S.
"There are bad actors in Russia, bad actors in
China, and none of those places have been
put on any kind of ban," said Rep. Sheila
Jackson Lee (D., Texas.) whose Houston
district includes the largest Nigerian
community in the U.S. "It is pure
discrimination and racism."
Chad Wolf, acting Secretary of the
Department of Homeland Security, said the
new immigration restrictions were designed
to address security concerns in the way the
banned countries track their own citizens,
share information with the U.S. and cooperate
on immigration matters.
He outlined a process, which the department
undertakes every six months under the
president's 2017 order, under which the U.S.
government surveyed all other countries
security practices.
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