US to begin imposing new immigration restrictions on six countries
US President Donald Trump updated travel ban today comes into effect. Four new countries—Eritrea, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan and Nigeria—can no longer get immigrant visas, while Sudan and Tanzania are no longer able to enter the immigrant visa lottery.
The update is seen by many as an extension of Trump’s earlier “Muslim ban,” which blocked immigration from several predominantly Muslim countries. The administration argues the ban is due to security concerns about radicalised immigrants entering the US. Fear spread among affected immigrant communities already in the US that this ban will prevent them from reuniting with their families. Critics say this is a racist and xenophobic executive order that hurts those from poorer countries who would otherwise meet immigration criteria.
Democrats, led by Minnesota House Representative Ilhan Omar, introduced the No Ban Act to limit the president’s executive power to ban foreign nationals to enter the US, which recently advanced through the House but is expected to fail in the Republican-majority Senate. There is little legal recourse available following the US Supreme Court’s 2018 decision to uphold the initial Muslim travel ban.
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