Donald Trump administration considers travel restrictions on 43 countries; Russia, Pakistan, North Korea on list: Report

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According to the report, the countries have been divided into three groups of 11, 10 and 22, respectively. The first group is reportedly called the ‘red list,’ the second group is called ‘orange list,’ while the third one has been named ‘yellow list.’

The Donald Trump administration is reportedly considering sweeping travel restrictions for citizens of 43 countries as part of a new ban, continuing an immigration crackdown that the US President initiated at the start of his second term in January.

An internal memo divides these countries into three separate categories, The New York Times reported.

The first group (called ‘red list’) includes 11 countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. Their citizens are proposed to be ‘flatly barred’ from travelling to the United States.

The second group (‘orange list’) comprises 10 nations, for which travel would be restricted but not cut off. In their case, affluent business travellers could be allowed to enter the US, but not those on immigrant or tourist visas. This group includes Belarus, Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Turkmenistan.

The third category (yellow list), is the largest of the three with 22 countries, and would have 60 days to clear up perceived deficiencies, with the threat of being moved onto one of the other groups if they did not comply. It includes Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Congo, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Vanuatu and Zimbabwe.

A US official who spoke on the condition of anonymity cautioned there could be changes on the list, and it was yet to be approved by the Trump administration, including Marco Rubio, the secretary of state.

Trump’s crackdown on immigration

Shortly after his second inauguration, President Trump issued an executive order, requiring intensified security vetting of any foreigner national seeking admission to the US to detect national security threats.

That order directed several cabinet members to submit by March 21 a list of countries from which travel should be partly or fully suspended because their ‘vetting and screening information is so deficient.’

His administration has also been sending back illegal immigrants to their home countries, including India. The chaining and shackling of deportees has been slammed by their home countries.

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