Trump administration thinks about including Ghana, 35 others to travel ban list

President Donald Trump’s administration is said to be exploring new visa restrictions targeting 36 countries, including Ghana and 24 other African nations, within the framework of substantial expansion plan of its travel ban policy, as per a leaked State Department memo reviewed by The Washington Post.

A State Department spokesperson said the agency chose not to disclose internal discussions or communications. The White House was unavailable for comment at the time. Such a move would represents a significant step up in the Trump administration’s strict enforcement against immigration.

The memo, having been signed off by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and sent Saturday to U.S. diplomats who work with the countries, said the governments of listed  nations ban were being given 60 days to comply with the updated standards established by the State Department. It is expected to give a deadline of 8 a.m on Wednesday for them to develop a starting point for action for meeting the requirements.

The memo outlined different key performance that, in the administration’s estimation where these countries were failing to meet. Some countries had “no competent or cooperative central government authority to produce reliable identity documents or other civil documents,” or experienced difficulties with “widespread government fraud.”

Others had large numbers of citizens who overstayed their visas in the United States, the memo said. Other reasons included the availability of citizenship by monetary investment without a requirement of residency and claims of “antisemitic and anti-American activity in the United States” by people from those countries. The memo also stated that if a country was willing to accept third-country nationals who were removed from the United States or enter a “safe third country” agreement, it could mitigate other concerns.

The situation was unclear when the proposed travel restrictions would be put into effect if the demands were not met.

The countries ban under intense scrutiny in the memo: Angola; Antigua and Barbuda; Benin; Bhutan; Burkina Faso; Cabo Verde; Cambodia; Cameroon; Democratic Republic of Congo; Djibouti; Dominica; Ethiopia; Egypt; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Ivory Coast; Kyrgyzstan; Liberia; Malawi; Mauritania; Niger; Nigeria; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Sao Tome and Principe; Senegal; South Sudan; Syria; Tanzania; Tonga; Tuvalu; Uganda; Vanuatu; Zambia; and Zimbabwe.

READ: Allegations of bribery against the judiciary lack evidence- Justice Dennis Adjei