New travel restrictions, According to three people with knowledge of the situation, President Donald Trump’s new travel ban may prevent citizens of Afghanistan and Pakistan from entering the US as early as next week after a government assessment of the security and vetting concerns of those nations.
New travel restrictions, Other nations might also be on the list, according to the three individuals, who asked not to be named because they were unsure which ones.
The action is reminiscent of the Republican president’s first-term travel ban on citizens of seven countries with a majority of Muslims, which underwent multiple revisions before the Supreme Court affirmed it in 2018.
New travel restrictions, The ban was revoked in 2021 by former President Joe Biden, a Democrat who replaced Trump, who described it as “a stain on our national conscience.”
Tens of thousands of Afghans who have been approved for resettlement in the United States as refugees or on Special Immigrant Visas may be impacted by the new prohibition. These individuals are vulnerable to Taliban reprisals for their service for the United States during a 20-year conflict in their homeland.
On January 20, Trump signed an executive order mandating that all foreign nationals applying for entry to the US undergo more thorough security screening in order to identify potential national security risks.
According to that directive, a number of cabinet members were required to produce a list of nations whose “vetting and screening information is so deficient” by March 12 in order for travel to be partially or completely prohibited.
The three individuals, along with one who wished to remain anonymous, stated that Afghanistan will be on the list of nations that should be completely prohibited from travel.
Pakistan would also be suggested for inclusion, according to the three sources.
Requests for comment from the leaders of the State, Justice, and Homeland Security departments as well as the Office of the Director for National Intelligence, which is in charge of the project, were not immediately answered.
Afghans who are approved for resettlement in the United States as refugees or on special visas must first pass a rigorous screening process that makes them “more highly vetted than any population” worldwide, according to one source.
An exemption from the travel restriction for holders of Special Immigrant Visas is being sought by the State Department office in charge of their resettlement, “but it’s not assumed likely to be granted,” the person stated.
According to a Reuters story last month, the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts office has been instructed to create a strategy for closing by April.
The Taliban, who took control of Kabul when the last American forces left in August 2021 following two decades of conflict, are currently facing an insurgency by the regional chapter of Islamic State. Violent Islamist extremists are another issue facing Pakistan.
Trump started an immigration crackdown at the beginning of his second administration, which includes this directive.
In a speech in October 2023, he gave a sneak peek at his plan, promising to exclude individuals from the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and “anywhere else that threatens our security.”
New travel restrictions, Shawn VanDiver, the leader of #AfghanEvac, a coalition of organizations that works with the US government to manage the evacuation and resettlement of Afghans, encouraged anybody with a valid US visa to leave as soon as they can.
“While no official announcement has been made, multiple sources within the US government suggest a new travel restriction could be implemented within the next week,” he said in a press release.
His statement stated that this “may significantly impact Afghan visa holders who have been awaiting relocation” to the United States.
Approximately 200,000 Afghans have either received approval for resettlement in the United States or have applications for US refugee and special immigrant visas pending.
Since Trump imposed a 90-day ban on refugee admissions and the foreign funding that pays for their flights on January 20, they have been stuck in Afghanistan and almost 90 other countries, including roughly 20,000 in Pakistan.