Trump's travel ban on seven new countries comes into effect as 2026 begins
Immigrants and nonimmigrants from Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Syria will all be denied entry into the US as part of new Border Patrol Guidance.
Donald Trump's travel ban on people from seven African nations goes into effect as 2026 gets underway.
Immigrants and nonimmigrants from Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Syria will all be denied entry into the US as part of new Customs and Border Patrol Guidance, ABC News reported.
The White House said in early December it was banning foreigners who 'intend to threaten' Americans.
The move brought to nearly 40 the number of countries whose citizens face restrictions in coming to the United States solely by virtue of nationality.
Washington said the toughened restrictions were based on security assessments which showed 'persistent and severe deficiencies' in screening, vetting and information-sharing by the affected countries.
Officials cited high visa overstay rates, refusal to accept deported nationals, terror threats and unreliable local records which make background checks unreliable.
The decision comes after the Trump administration pledged to toughen the border following the shooting of two soldiers in Washington, DC, on November 26 - the day before Thanksgiving.
An Afghan immigrant, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, has been charged with murder over the killing of Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20. Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains in hospital where he is undergoing rehabilitation after a stay in intensive care.
Donald Trump's travel ban on people from seven African nations goes into effect as 2026 gets underway
Immigrants and nonimmigrants from Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Syria will all be denied entry into the US as part of new Customs and Border Patrol Guidance
In June, Trump announced that citizens of 12 countries would be banned from visiting the United States and those from seven others would face restrictions. The decision resurrected a hallmark policy of his first term.
At the time the ban included Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen and heightened restrictions on visitors from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
In the aftermath of the Thanksgiving shooting, it was revealed that Lakanwal had arrived in the US in 2021 as part of Joe Biden's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan after serving as an ally of Special Forces troops in a CIA-backed unit.