US President Donald Trump has signed a new presidential proclamation that expands and tightens restrictions on foreign nationals entering the country, bringing the number of countries subject to full or partial bans to 39, according to the text of the document and explanations from the White House.
According to the proclamation, the previously existing restrictions on the entry of citizens of 12 “high-risk” countries remain in full force: Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Entry into the US for citizens of these countries in immigration and most non-immigration visa categories is suspended, except for individual exceptions and humanitarian cases provided for by law and the document.
A complete ban on entry also applies to citizens of five additional countries—Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria—as well as to individuals traveling on travel documents issued or certified by the Palestinian Authority. The decision is justified by high visa overstays (cases of exceeding the permitted period of stay), security concerns, and the unwillingness of the authorities of these countries to accept deported citizens.
Separately, the proclamation moves Laos and Sierra Leone from partial restrictions to a de facto total ban: entry into the US for citizens of these countries under both immigrant and major non-immigrant visa categories (B-1/B-2, F, M, J) is suspended.
At the same time, the document eases restrictions for Turkmenistan: against the backdrop of “significant progress” in cooperation with Washington, restrictions on the issuance of non-immigrant visas to citizens of this country are being lifted, but the ban on immigrant entry remains in place.
In addition, partial restrictions are being introduced for 15 countries: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. For citizens of these countries, entry into the US as immigrants and as holders of B-1/B-2, F, M, and J visas will be restricted, and the validity of other categories of visas issued by US consulates is expected to be reduced “to the extent permitted by law.” The reasons cited are high rates of visa violations, the existence of “citizenship for investment” programs without residency requirements, and problems with returning illegal migrants to their home countries.
Partial restrictions remain in place for a number of countries that already appeared in previous versions of the high-risk migration regime, in particular Burundi, Cuba, Togo, and Venezuela, according to White House documents.
The US administration emphasizes that the goal of the updated system is to “increase security and immigration control” and to encourage foreign countries to strengthen data exchange, reduce visa violations, and more actively accept deported citizens. The document provides for the possibility of revising the list of countries and the nature of restrictions based on the results of regular assessments by the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security.
According to observers, the Trump administration’s next step in the field of migration may be to further tighten checks on applicants from “at-risk” countries, expanding the practice of targeted restrictions on certain visa categories (including work and student visas), and attempting to link the easing of restrictions to agreements on security and cooperation on the return of illegal migrants. At the same time, experts expect legal disputes over the new measures to intensify and be challenged in federal courts, as has been the case in previous years.
https://expertsclub.eu/tramp-posylyuye-migraczijnu-polityku-chogo-ochikuvaty-dali/
