President Donald Trump has signed a new proclamation which effectively bans citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States of America.
In the latest proclamation which is a repeat of his first term policy, President Trump announced that citizens of seven African countries including, Chad; Republic of the Congo; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea, Somalia, Libya, and Sudan as well as citizens of Burma/Myanmar, Haiti, Afghanistan and Yemen will no longer qualify to apply US Visa.
In the proclamation announced on Wednesday, seven other countries including, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela also have series of restrictions on visa application into the US emplaced.
Some of the restrictions as reported by Reuters include exemptions lawful permanent residents, existing visa holders, certain visa categories and individuals whose entry serves US national interests.
The latest decision of President Trump according to reports stems from rising antisemitic attacks in some US states with Boulder, Colorado recording a fresh attack.
Justifying the Visa restrictions, White House Deputy Press Secretary, Abigail Jackson in a tweet on X said, “President Trump is fulfilling his promise to protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors that want to come to our country and cause us harm.”
According to her, “These commonsense restrictions are country-specific and include places that lack proper vetting, exhibit high visa overstay rates, or fail to share identity and threat information.”
Speaking on the latest bans, President Trump who spoke through a video posted on social media said, “The list is subject to revision based on whether material improvements are made. And likewise new countries can be added as threats emerge around the world, but we will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm and nothing will stop us from keeping America safe.”
In his first term in office, President Trump promulgated a similar policy that shutout citizens of mainly seven Muslim countries from entering the United States. The policy lasted throughout the four years of Trump’s administration.