The US Travel ban was one of the President's signature policies that Donald Trump introduced soon after taking over the White House. It was to prevent the entry of persons from certain countries that were considered to be security risks. The purpose of the travel ban was to ensure the safety of America and Americans. It led to chaotic situations at airports and the subject of travel ban landed at the Supreme Court. In the latest version, there is an addition of six new countries. There are four African countries covered by the ban apart from Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar (or Burma).

The ban will exclude immigrants who have helped the US in one way or another. Critics interpret this as a move of the Trump administration to ban entry of Muslims into the United States. The president has signed the proclamation and it would take effect at 12:01 am on February 22.

CNN says the updated version has raised controversy because it appears to be targeting certain African countries. In the opinion of a section of lawmakers and advocates, the changes appear to be discriminatory and without merit. The timing of the announcement coincides with the signing of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade deal and possible acquittal in the Senate impeachment trial.

However, the administration says the travel ban is vital from the point of view of national security. It argues that its implementation would ensure that those countries have the necessary setup to adhere to a certain level of identity management and information sharing as required by the US.

The US says the travel ban is necessary

The current travel ban imposes restrictions on entry from seven countries to varying degrees and these will continue to remain in place. Chad was on the list but it improved its security measures and does not appear on the list now. Based on 2018 data, an estimated 12,398 people could feel the impact of the new ban, which will apply to immigrant visas, but not students, other temporary visitors or refugee processing.

CNN quotes a DHS official as saying that any country can take suitable action to upgrade their deficiencies in the security infrastructure can remove itself from the purview of the ban. It says Chad has done it by making improvements on reporting of lost and stolen passport and exchange of information on terrorists. However, immigrant groups derided the expansion of the program. A person associated with the Immigrants' Rights Project says – “The ban should be ended, not expanded.”

Travel ban includes Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation

According to BBC, the US has expanded the scope of the travel ban and it now includes Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation.

The ban covers six more countries and its people would not be able to obtain certain types of visas. They can visit the US as tourists. An official explained that the new measures were because of the failures of the countries to meet the minimum requirements of US security and information-sharing standards. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said officials would extend help to those countries in order to augment their security requirements. Once that is done, they can expect to be removed from the list. US President Donald Trump introduced a travel ban in 2017, which is applicable to seven countries. Most of them have Muslim majorities. The ban now will add six more countries.

Donald Trump and his travel ban

After taking over the White House, one of the major decisions taken by Donald Trump was to introduce a travel ban on people from other countries. Most of these were Muslim majority ones. His intention was to ensure the safety of his people because some of the countries on the list are believed to have links with terrorist organizations. However, the exact reasons for adding another six countries to the earlier list are not very clear.
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