A diplomatic cable sent over the weekend by the State Department instructs embassies and consulates in 36 countries to assess their hosts’ willingness by Wednesday to improve their citizens’ travel documentation and take steps to address the status of their citizens who are in the United States illegally.
The cable, which was described to the Associated Press, asks countries to take steps to address U.S. concerns within 60 days or risk being added to the current travel ban, which now includes 12 nations. Of the 36 new countries targeted, 25 are in Africa.
The 36 countries identified in the new cable include Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, South Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Donald Trump had announced in early June that he would ban the entry of nationals from 12 countries, mainly from Africa and the Middle East, such as Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, Haiti, Yemen, Iran, Libya, Somalia and Sudan.
Nationals from seven other countries - Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela - are affected by restrictions on the granting of visas.
Trump justified these measures, which came into effect on 9 June, with the need to "protect the United States from foreign terrorists and other threats to national security".
