The White House says no decision has been made yet.
According to an internal memorandum, President Donald Trump’s administration has weighed and considered travel bans for citizens from dozens of countries.
The memo, viewed by Reuters, divides 41 countries into three groups.
One group, including Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Cuba and North Korea, will be set up for full visa suspension.
Five countries, second group of Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar and South Sudan, will face partial suspensions affecting tourists, student visas and other immigrant visas, with a few exceptions.
A third group of 26 countries, including Belarus and Pakistan, will be considered partial suspension of US visa issuance if the government “does not make an effort to address the defect within 60 days,” the memo said.
White House officials did not deny that new travel restrictions were being considered. Officials told the Epoch Times in an email that no decision has been made yet.
The State Department did not respond to requests for comment at each publication time.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the president can “suspend all alien or alien class entry” whenever he finds out that an alien or alien class invasion is harmful to the interests of the United States.
Hawaiian officials sued the restrictions, claiming that they exceeded what was permitted by law.
“By its plain language, (the law) gives the president a wide range of discretion to suspend foreign entry into the United States,” Judge John Roberts wrote at the time. “The President has legally exercised his discretion based on his findings – endured a multi-institutional review of globally – the entry of eligible foreigners would be harmful to the national interest.” ”
After being sworn in on January 20th, Trump directed the Attorney General and other senior officials to identify countries around the world.
While campaigning for the 2024 election, Trump raised travel bans for citizens from several countries, including Libya and Somalia, as well as “someone else that threatens our safety.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
