Pakistan is in the orange category, meaning that travel would be restricted but not prohibited, while Bhutan and Afghanistan are on the US’s proposed red travel restriction list. Bhutanese visa infractions increased by 37% in the last year, according to the US.
The administration of Donald Trump has compiled a “red” list of 11 nations whose nationals will not be allowed to enter the United States. This would be a component of a larger travel ban scheme that would include restrictions in up to forty-three nations.
According to a New York Times story, US sources warned that the list was created by the State Department a few weeks ago and is probably going to alter by the time it gets to the White House.
The State Department was instructed to identify nations “for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries,” according to an executive order signed by Trump upon his inauguration on January 20.
With that list, he assigned the agency 60 days to complete a report for the White House, which is due the following week.
Which Lists Are Being Considered for Travel Bans?
The draft lists created by security and diplomatic personnel have been divided into three categories: yellow, orange, and red.
Red: Entry into the United States will be prohibited for citizens of Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. Afghanistan, which was not included in Trump’s first-term travel ban but fell to the Taliban when US forces left Kabul, is probably going to be subject to the restriction, according to a report published this month by news outlet Times.
The draft lists created by security and diplomatic personnel have been divided into three categories: yellow, orange, and red.
Red: Entry into the United States will be prohibited for citizens of Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. Afghanistan, which was not included in Trump’s first-term travel ban but fell to the Taliban when US forces left Kabul, is probably going to be subject to the restriction, according to a report published this month by news outlet Times.
Orange: It enumerates ten countries with travel restrictions but not bans. Rich businesspeople might be allowed access in those cases, but persons with immigration visas won’t. Citizens on the list would have to attend mandatory in-person interviews in order to receive a visa. They included Russia, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Haiti, Laos, Haiti, Myanmar, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and Belarus.
Yellow: Angola, Liberia, the Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, and Vanuatu are among the remaining 22 nations on this list. These nations would have sixty days to address any alleged shortcomings, and if they don’t, they risk being placed in a different category. According to a New York Times investigation, problems include selling citizenship to individuals prohibited from the countries, neglecting to provide the US with information about arriving travelers, and allegedly using subpar security procedures when granting passports.
Why Bhutan Has Been Banned?
The US administration has cited “national security concerns” and “irregular migration patterns” as the reasons for the ban on Bhutan, which has been hailed as one of the happiest nations in the world. Bhutanese people have been overstaying their visas or trying to enter the US through unauthorized methods, according to official sources, as reported by The Feed.
Stricter procedures were prompted after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported a 37% increase in Bhutanese visa infractions over the previous year.
Bhutanese nationals who intend to travel to the US will now be subject to more scrutiny, longer visa processing waits, and in certain situations, outright visa denials as a result of the travel restriction. It might be far more difficult for those looking for work permits and student visas to get entrance. Furthermore, Bhutanese nationals on temporary visas in the US may be subject to further scrutiny, which would complicate renewals.
The action is expected to have an effect on the generally stable US-Bhutanese relations. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bhutan has formally asked for a reconsideration of the ruling, claiming that Americans are not seriously threatened by Bhutanese nationals.
What Does The Travel Ban Mean For People?
According to US media sources, it’s unclear if people who currently hold valid visas would be immune from the ban or if their visas would be revoked. Furthermore, it’s unclear if the government plans to grant current green card holders—who have already been granted permission to live in the country legally—an exemption.
There are problems with the idea of restricting rather than outright banning Russian tourists. Trump has been attempting to restructure US foreign policy in a way that is more favorable to Russia, despite the fact that the Russian government is known for being corrupt.
Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian-born former graduate student of Palestinian heritage from Columbia University, had his green card revoked by the administration last week for organizing well-publicized demonstrations against Israel’s role in Gaza that the government deemed anti-Semitic.
It should be mentioned that during his first term, Trump imposed sanctions on a few of the nations listed on the red and orange travel restriction lists. This time, however, a number of new ones have been introduced. The bulk of Muslim nations or non-white, impoverished, and corrupt nations were included in the previous lists.
History Of Trump’s Travel Bans
A week into his first term, Trump signed an executive order titled “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States.” Because it primarily targeted countries with a majority of Muslims, the directive was known as the “Muslim Travel Ban.”
Syrian refugees were prohibited from entering, while people from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen were temporarily prohibited from entering.
Protests and airport mayhem were brought on by the action. Soon after the original ban was implemented in 2017, judges in a number of states halted it, arguing that it violated US immigration law by targeting Muslim nations and discriminating against individuals based only on their nationality without cause.
The idea that permitted the exclusion of nationals from Libya, Iran, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen was revised by the Supreme Court. In 2018, the prohibition was upheld.
The restriction was lifted when Joe Biden entered office in 2021, seeing it as “inconsistent with our long history of welcoming people of all faiths and no faith at all” and “a stain on our national conscience.”
Trump had promised during his campaign to reintroduce the travel restriction if elected. Trump promised to “restore the travel ban, suspend refugee admissions, stop the resettlement, and keep the terrorists the hell out of our country” on “day one” of his presidency as he addressed the crowd at a campaign event in St. Cloud, Minnesota, in July.
