The people of Pakistan and Afghanistan may be prevented from entering the United States as US President Donald Trump is allegedly planning to impose travel ban on the two countries to reduce security and risks. According to a report by Reuters, the next week may apply as the restriction.
The report stated that the Trump administration has prepared a “list” for traveling restriction on the government review of the security and risks of the countries. “Other countries may also be in the list,” sources told the Reuters without naming another nation.
The step returned to the ban on the first term of President Trump on the passengers of seven majority-Muslim countries, a policy that went through several recurrents before the Supreme Court retained it by the Supreme Court in 2018. Former President Joe Biden called the ban “a stain at our national discretion” in 2021.
Trump intensifies waiting process
After assuming office on January 20, Trump issued an executive order, requiring intensive security of any foreigners seeking entry into the US to find out national security threats. The order directed several cabinet members to submit it by 12 March, from which there is a list of countries from which the journey should be partially or completely suspended as their “veating and screening information is so short”.
Trump’s instruction is part of an immigration crack he launched at the beginning of his second term. He previewed his plan in a speech in October 2023, which threatens Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and “our safety elsewhere.”
Restrictions to influence Afghan refugees
The new sanctions can affect thousands of Afghans that have been approved as refugees in the US or for rehabilitation on special immigrant visas as they are at risk of Taliban vengeance to work for America during a 20 -year war in their country.
Reuters report stated that Afghanistan and Pakistan will be included in the recommended list of countries for full travel ban. The Taliban, who seized Kabul as the last American soldiers, was taken out after two decades of the war in August 2021, facing a rebellion by the regional branch of the Islamic State. Pakistan is also struggling with violent Islamist terrorists.
So far, no official statement has been issued at the initiative of the Director’s Office for State, Justice and Homeland Security and National Intelligence.
The Afghans approved for rehabilitation as refugees in the United States or as a special visa, which first undergoes intensive screening that makes them “more vitated than any population” in the world. A source told Reuters that the office of the State Department, which oversees their rehabilitation, is demanding exemption for special immigrant visa holders from the travel ban “but it is unlikely to be believed.”
According to the earlier report, the coordinator for Afghan transfer efforts, the office overseeing the task has been asked to develop a plan by April.
#Afghanevac chief Sean Vandivar, a alliance of groups that coordinates the withdrawal and rehabilitation of Afghans with the US government, urged those who could travel legitimate American visas as soon as possible.
“While no official announcement has been made, several sources within the US government suggest that a new travel ban can be implemented within next week,” he said in a statement.
He said that it could “significantly affect Afghan visa holders, who are waiting for transfer to the US”.
There are some 200,000 Afghans approved for US rehabilitation or pending American refugee and special immigrant visa applications. They are stranded in Afghanistan and around 90 other countries – including around 20,000 in Pakistan – from January 20, when Trump ordered a 90 -day freeze on refugee entry and foreign aid, which funds his flights.
