The United States is considering restricting the entry of citizens of 36 additional countries to its territory, in what may be a major expansion in the travel ban announced by the administration of US President Donald Trump at the beginning of this month, according to a memorandum issued by the US State Department of State seen by the Washington Post.
According to the newspaper, among the new countries that may face a ban on visas or other restrictions, 25 African countries, including important partners of the United States such as Egypt and Djibouti, as well as countries in the Caribbean Sea and Central Asia and many countries of the Pacific Islands.
The White House or the US State Department did not comment on these news.
According to the newspaper, “This step would constitute another escalation in the campaign launched by the Trump administration on illegal immigration.
The memo, signed by Foreign Minister Marco Rubio, and sent on Saturday to American diplomats working in the countries concerned, stated that the governments of the countries listed on the list were given a 60 -day period “to fulfill the new standards and requirements” set by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The memo called on the countries concerned to submit a preliminary action plan to meet these requirements, by next Wednesday morning.
The memo set various criteria that these countries failed to meet, stressing that some of these countries “do not have efficient or cooperative governmental authority to issue reliable identity documents or other civil documents”, adding that some countries concerned have suffered from “widespread government fraud.”
The memo said that other countries have large numbers of citizens whose visas extended in the United States and did not leave them. Other reasons included allegations of foreigners belonging to some of these countries “a dominant and anti -America activity in the United States.”
On the other hand, the memo noted that restrictions on visas can be mitigated if any of these countries expressed their willingness to accept the citizens of third countries being deported from the United States.
It is reported that it was not immediately clear when the proposed travel restrictions will be applied if Washington’s demands are not met.
