Washington (TDI): The United States is considering issuing sweeping travel restrictions for the citizens of dozens of countries as part of a new ban and Pakistan has been placed in a group that would be considered for a partial suspension of visa issuance if their governments “do not make efforts to address deficiencies within 60 days”.
The memo lists a total of 41 nations divided into three separate groups. The first group of 10 states, including Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Cuba and North Korea among others, would be set for a full visa suspension, according to Reuters.
In the second group, five nations — Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar and South Sudan — would face partial suspensions that would impact tourist and student visas as well as other immigrant visas, with some exceptions.
In the third group, a total of 26 nations that includes Belarus, Pakistan and Turkmenistan among others would be considered for a partial suspension of US visa issuance if their governments “do not make efforts to address deficiencies within sixty days”, the memo said.
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The decision harkens back to President Donald Trump’s first term ban on travelers from 7 majority-Muslim countries, a policy that faced several iterations before it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.
Trump issued an executive order on January 20 requiring strict security vetting of any foreigners seeking admission to the country to detect national security threats.
That order directed several cabinet members to submit by March 21 a list of nations from which travel should be partly or fully suspended because their “vetting and screening information is so deficient”.
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Trump’s order is part of an immigration crackdown that he launched at the start of his second term.
He presented his plan in an October 2023 speech, vowing to restrict people from the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and “anywhere else that threatens the US security.”
