Several popular Caribbean travel destinations are on a list of nations being considered for a travel ban by the Trump administration.
The Washington Post reported that an internal U.S. State Department memo indicated that a prohibition on travel to the United States was being proposed for all citizens of Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gabon, 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.
Extensive Travel Ban Pending
“The 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,” according to the memo.
Signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the document sent to U.S. diplomats in the listed countries said the policy targeted nations that failed to produce reliable identity documents for citizens, suffered from widespread government fraud, had large numbers of citizens who overstay their visas in the U.S., or allow citizenship by monetary investment without a requirement of residency.
Rubio also cited “antisemitic and anti-American activity in the United States” by people from these countries.
The memo threatened travel bans if the countries didn’t address these issues. However, despite the ban being framed as necessary for dire national security reasons, Rubio also said that countries willing to accept third-country deportees from the U.S. might be exempt from the restrictions, according to the Post.
Earlier in June, the U.S. imposed a travel ban on citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. A partial ban was also ordered for citizens of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
In a June 4 statement, Trump said the bans would apply to aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes.”
The ban would not affect the ability of U.S. citizens to travel to and from these countries, although some of the nations already are subject to other travel restrictions and warnings.
