Trump's new announcement banning Iranians from traveling to the US; North Korea's name added
In a new executive order issued Sunday night, the US president called for continued travel and visa restrictions on citizens of six predominantly Muslim countries, adding North Korea and Chad to the list. However, he removed Sudan from the list of countries subject to visa bans.
On Sunday night, October 2, President Donald Trump announced in his announcement that the new restrictions were imposed "due to the lack of cooperation from foreign governments."
Mr. Trump's new order follows his efforts to ban travel from six predominantly Muslim countries, which was due to expire in three months, and is set to take effect on October 18.
What is the new restriction?
President Trump's new executive order suspends entry of Iranian citizens on immigrant and nonimmigrant visas. The order was issued due to the "failure of the Iranian government to cooperate with the United States in identifying security threats."
However, the notification states that holders of student visas (F and M) and student exchange visas (J) from Iran are exempt from the restriction.
The Supreme Court is set to soon begin reviewing the executive order banning visas for six predominantly Muslim countries, but previously, amendments lifted restrictions on first-degree family visas, and several legal battles in US federal courts have hampered the full implementation of President Trump's executive order.
The list of countries subject to restrictions has now expanded to eight countries: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, North Korea, Yemen and Chad. The US president's announcement imposed restrictions on government officials and their family members in Venezuela, which appears to be a continuation of the White House's dissatisfaction with the Maduro government's crackdown on dissent.
President Trump's Defense: America First
Concurrent with the new announcement, President Trump tweeted: "The security of America is my number one priority. We will not allow entry into the United States to those we cannot properly screen."
While there has been opposition to it since President Trump issued his executive order last February, the US president says that banning travel from these countries is to ensure the security of Americans. According to the US government, because the governments of countries like Iran do not cooperate with the US in terms of security, this is considered a threat to the US.
Activists initially said that the travel ban on citizens of countries such as Iran, Yemen, Syria and Libya effectively discriminated against Muslims, but the government denied this accusation. In recent months, civil society organizations in the United States have filed lawsuits against the government, saying that the broad and general ban would include hundreds of thousands of people who do not pose a threat to the United States and are present in the United States as students or workers.
The Trump administration is calling for reform of immigration laws and visa issuance to the United States.
Source: Voice of America
