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The Trump administration is considering adding dozens more African and Caribbean nations to its no-travel list.
According to an internal memo obtained by the Washington Post, 36 more countries will have 60 days to meet new requirements established by the State Department or be at risk of facing travel restrictions or bans.
The memo, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and sent to U.S. diplomats, listed 25 African nations, including Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It also added several Caribbean nations, including Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Lucia.
Four countries in Asia, including Bhutan, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, and Syria, and three countries in Oceania, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu, were also included in the new memo.
The State Department alleged that some of the countries hadn't met various benchmarks, including “no competent or cooperative central government authority” to provide reliable identity documents and a large number of citizens who had violated the terms of their visas.
According to the memo, these countries have until Wednesday (June 18) to give the State Department an initial plan of action to meet the requirements. However, if a country is willing to accept third-country nationals who are being removed from the U.S., the agency would ease other concerns, the memo states.
The new memo comes after Trump announced a full ban on entry into the U.S. from countries and travel restrictions for seven others.
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