President Trump signed a proclamation on December 16 expanding restrictions on who may enter the United States.
“The United States must exercise extreme vigilance during the visa-issuance and immigration processes to identify, prior to their admission or entry into the United States, foreign nationals who intend to harm Americans or our national interests,” Trump’s proclamation states. “The United States Government must ensure that admitted aliens do not intend to threaten its citizens; undermine or destabilize its culture, government, institutions, or founding principles; or advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists or other threats to our national security.”
“I have determined to fully restrict and limit the entry of nationals of 7 additional countries: Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Syria,” the proclamation notes, adding, “I have also determined to fully restrict and limit the entry of individuals using travel documents issued or endorsed by the Palestinian Authority (PA).”
Those from Burundi, Cuba, Togo, and Venezuela will continue to be partially restricted from entering the United States.
“The restrictions and limitations imposed by the Proclamation are necessary to prevent the entry of foreign nationals about whom the United States lacks sufficient information to assess the risks they pose, garner cooperation from foreign governments, enforce our immigration laws, and advance other important foreign policy, national security, and counterterrorism objectives,” a White House fact sheet says of the proclamation’s contents.
The proclamation further “continues the full restrictions and entry limitations of nationals from the original 12 high-risk countries established under Proclamation 10949: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen,” the fact sheet notes.
