Trump signs proclamation that restricts travel from 8 countries
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
Citizens of eight countries will face new restrictions on entry to the U.S. under a proclamation signed by President Donald Trump on Sunday.
The new rules, which will impact citizens of Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen, begin Oct. 18.
The restrictions range from full travel bans on nationals from countries such as Syria to more targeted restrictions. A suspension of nonimmigrant visas to citizens for Venezuela, for instance, applies only to senior government officials and their immediate families.
The announcement came the same day as Trump’s temporary ban on visitors from six Muslim-majority countries expired 90 days after it went into effect. That ban had barred citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen who lack a “credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States” from entering the U.S.
Officials said valid visas would not be revoked as a result of the proclamation.
The restrictions target countries that Department of Homeland Security officials say refuse to share information with the U.S. or haven’t taken necessary security precautions.
Unlike Trump’s first travel ban, which sparked chaos at airports across the country and a flurry of legal challenges, officials said they’d been working for months on the new rules.
The restrictions are based on a new baseline developed by DHS that includes factors such as whether countries issue electronic passports with biometric information and share information about travelers’ terror-related and criminal histories. The U.S. then shared those benchmarks with every country in the world and gave them 50 days to comply.
The eight countries are those that refused or were unable to comply.