A draft list of 43 countries is, according to the newspaper, circulating within Donald Trump's administration and lists three tiers of countries whose citizens could face travel bans or restrictions to the United States.
Angola, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe and Equatorial Guinea, four countries of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), appear in the group of nations that could be given a period of 60 days to correct detected deficiencies, under penalty of suffering heavier restrictions.
Citing “officials familiar with the matter,” the NYT reports that the US administration is considering targeting citizens of up to 43 countries as part of a new travel ban to the United States that is broader than restrictions imposed during President Trump’s first term.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, cautioned that the list had been developed by the State Department several weeks ago and was likely to change by the time it reached the White House.
Developed by diplomatic and security officials, the draft list suggests a “red” list of 11 countries whose citizens would be categorically banned from entering the United States: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.
The draft proposal also includes an “orange” list of 10 countries to which travel would be restricted but not cut off. In such cases, wealthy business travelers could be allowed to enter, but not people traveling on immigrant or tourist visas.
Citizens included on this list would also be subject to mandatory in-person interviews to obtain a visa. The list included Belarus, Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Turkmenistan.
The proposal also includes a draft “yellow” list of 22 countries, which would be given a period of 60 days to correct any deficiencies detected, with the threat of being transferred to one of the other lists if they do not comply.
According to the NYT, officials from the State Department's embassies and regional offices, as well as security experts from other departments and intelligence agencies, have been analyzing the project.
When he took office on January 20, Donald Trump issued an executive order requiring the State Department to identify countries “for which screening and verification information is so deficient as to justify a partial or total suspension of admission of nationals from those countries.”
The president gave the department 60 days to complete a report to the White House with that list, meaning it should be due next week.
