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Homeland Security Secretary, Trump administration to extend travel ban for citizens of some countries to more than 30 Kristi Noem Said, since the arrival of a man in the latest ban afghanistan was accused of shooting two National Guard Member.
The extension would build on a travel ban already announced in June by the Republican administration, which barred travel to the US for citizens of 12 countries and restricted entry to the US for people from seven other countries. In a social media post earlier this week, Noem suggested more countries would be included.
Noem, who spoke late Thursday in an interview with Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham, said the president would not provide further details. donald trump Was considering which countries would be included.
In the wake of the National Guard shootings, the administration has already expanded sanctions on 19 countries included in the initial travel ban, including Afghanistan, Somalia, Iran and Haiti, among others.
Ingraham asked Noem if the travel ban was expanding to 32 countries and asked which countries would be added to the 19 countries announced earlier this year.
“I won’t get specific about the number, but it’s more than 30. And the president is continuing to evaluate countries,” Noem said.
“If they don’t have a stable government there, if they don’t have a country that can sustain itself and tell us who those individuals are and help us investigate them, then why should we allow people from that country to come to the United States?” Noem said.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment about when the updated travel ban might go into effect and which countries it would include.
The increase in travel restrictions in June is the latest in a rapidly unfolding series of immigration actions since the Thanksgiving week shooting of two National Guard soldiers. Washington,
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who defected to the United States from Afghanistan after the US withdrawal, has been charged with first-degree murder after one of the two victims, West Virginia National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, died of her injuries in the November 26 shooting. The second victim, Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe was seriously injured. Lakanwal has declared himself innocent.
The Trump administration has argued that more vetting is needed to ensure that people entering or already arriving in the US are not a threat. Critics say the administration is harassing people who have already undergone extensive vetting to travel to the US and that the new measures amount to mass punishment.
In the course of a little more than a week, the administration has halted asylum decisions, halted processing of immigration benefits for people from 19 travel ban countries in the US and halted visas for Afghans helping the US war effort.
On Thursday, US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it was shortening the time period of validity of work permits for some applicants, such as refugees and asylum seekers, so that they would have to reapply more often and undergo more frequent checks.