US Adds Nigeria to Stringent Travel Restrictions List

United States on Friday added Nigeria and five other countries to the list of nations facing stringent travel restrictions, virtually blocking immigration from Africa’s most populous nation, according to the New York Times.

The New York Times said beside Nigeria, varying degrees of restrictions will hit three other African countries, Eritrea, Sudan and Tanzania, and one former Soviet state, Kyrgyzstan.

Also affected is Myanmar, where refugees are fleeing genocide,  bringing the total number of countries on the restricted travel list to 13.

“Immigrant visas, issued mostly to foreigners intending to live in the United States, will be banned from Nigeria, Myanmar, Eritrea and Kyrgyzstan. The ban would prevent immigrants from Sudan and Tanzania from obtaining diversity visas. Homeland Security and State Department officials said some immigrants would be able to obtain waivers from the restrictions”, the report said.

It said the proclamation, which President Trump was expected to sign on Friday, will take effect on February 22.

The administration had argued that the ban, enacted in 2017 to restrict travel from Muslim-majority countries, was necessary to ensure that countries satisfy security requirements for travel into the United States, or face restrictions until they do.

The report noted that the expansion of the restrictions, which already affected more than 135 million people in seven countries, was likely to hinder more than 12,300 potential immigrants from resettling in the United States or reuniting with their family.

“The effect on Nigeria, not only Africa’s most populous country but also its largest economy, could be particularly severe”, it added.

Quoting a  United States government official, it said the administration was adding Nigeria and Tanzania to the list because of the number of people who come from the African countries on a visa and end up illegally staying in the United States.

The official said Sudan and Eritrea had not satisfied the administration’s information-sharing requirements.

The new visa restriction list is coming as the US 2020 election heats up and Trump is expected to use his travel ban, as well as his efforts to cut refugee admissions, to rally his political base as his administration contends with a Senate impeachment trial.

The New York Times report added that immigrants, citizens and students had already experienced the effect of Mr. Trump’s increased vetting at ports throughout the border.

“We’re adding a couple of countries,” Mr. Trump said last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “We have to be safe. Our country has to be safe. You see what’s going on in the world. Our country has to be safe.”