President Donald Trump’s administration is considering substantially expanding travel restrictions to include nationals from 36 countries, adding to existing travel bans on 12 countries.
“The [State] Department has identified 36 countries of concern that might be recommended for full or partial suspension of entry if they do not meet established benchmarks and requirements within 60 days,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an internal memo to American diplomats. A source familiar confirmed the memo, and said that discussions were ongoing.
Those 36 countries being considered, many of which are located in Africa, have been given until June 18 to respond before facing travel sanctions, the source said. These sanctions could include total bans, such as those already instituted on a dozen other countries, or they could include lesser restrictions.
The reasoning, according to the diplomatic memo, was that the countries being considered for a ban have demonstrated “a lack of a competent or cooperative government,” including failing to produce reliable and authentic identity documents and records. Rubio specifically listed “questionable security” around passports from targeted countries.
Some of the countries being considered have also reportedly been uncooperative in working with the federal government to facilitate the return of their nationals in the United States illegally.
The full list of countries being considered for restrictions include Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, South Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The news drew some pushback from critics, who alleged that the list was targeting African countries unfairly.
Tammy Bruce, spokesperson for the State Department, rejected that this was the motive in comments during a June 17 press conference, saying that the primary motive of instituting new restrictions would be “protecting our nation’s citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process.”
“The geo-position, the actual location of the country, is not a factor, or what continent that country is on,” Bruce said. “It’s about very specific aspects about whether or not the United States feels it can trust the information we rely on those countries, for to determine whether or not they’ll get a visa.”
Bruce said the administration wants to ensure that the visa adjudication process protects U.S. national security and public safety.
“That is, I think, a very low bar, and is a bar that every nation should be able to adopt to protect the national security and national interests of the United States and its people,” she said.
The government is assessing “other countries’ security capabilities, information sharing and identity management practices, exploitation of the U.S. visa system, such as overstay rates and failure to facilitate the repatriation of their removable nationals.”
The planned restrictions come as other nationals from 19 nations have already been restricted or banned from entering the United States under a June 4 presidential proclamation signed by Trump. That proclamation went into effect on June 9.
Countries currently facing total bans under Trump’s proclamation include Afghanistan, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Burma (also known as Myanmar), the Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
Seven other countries have partial travel sanctions, including Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
Trump suspended the entry of individuals from those seven countries “as immigrants, and as nonimmigrants,” on B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, F, M, and J visas, according to the directive. Additional countries will likely face similar restrictions under the administration’s current plans.
The travel ban results from a Jan. 20 executive order that Trump issued requiring the departments of State and Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to compile a report on “hostile attitudes” toward the United States and whether entry from certain countries represented a national security risk.
The African Union Commission expressed concerns at the time about the “potential negative impact” of the move.
“The African Union Commission respectfully calls upon the U.S. administration to consider adopting a more consultative approach and to engage in constructive dialogue with the countries concerned,” the commission said in a statement.