Washington– The Trump administration will expand He prevented her from traveling Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that the number of citizens of some countries reaches more than 30 Latest restrictions To come since the accusation of a man from Afghanistan Two National Guard members were shot.
The expansion will build on the travel ban the Republican administration already announced in June, which banned travel to the United States for citizens from 12 countries and restricted access to the United States for people from seven other countries. In a social media post earlier this week, Noem suggested including more countries.
Noem, who spoke late Thursday in an interview with Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham, did not provide further details, saying President Donald Trump was considering which countries would be included.
In the wake of the National Guard shooting, the administration has already tightened restrictions on the 19 countries included in the initial travel ban, which includes Afghanistan, Somalia, Iran and Haiti, among others.
Ingraham asked Noem whether the travel ban would expand to include 32 countries, and asked which countries would be added to the 19 that were announced earlier this year.
“I won’t be specific about the number, but it’s more than 30. And the president continues to evaluate countries,” Noem said.
“If they don’t have a stable government there, if they don’t have a country that can support itself and tell us who these individuals are and help us vet them, why should we allow people from that country to come here 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 would be included in it.
The additions to the June travel ban are the latest in a series of immigration measures that have been rapidly unfolding since then fire Thanksgiving week for two National Guard troops in Washington.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who immigrated to the United States from Afghanistan after the US withdrawal, was charged with first-degree murder after one of the two victims, West Virginia National Guard specialist Sarah Beckstrom, died from injuries sustained in the Nov. 26 shooting. The second victim, Sgt. Andrew Wolfe was seriously injured. Lakanwal has He pleaded not guilty.
The Trump administration has said more scrutiny is needed to ensure that people entering or already in the United States do not pose a threat. Critics say the administration is traumatizing people who have already undergone extensive vetting to reach the United States, and say the new measures amount to collective punishment.
Over the course of a little more than a week, the administration suspended asylum decisions, Processing is temporarily paused Of immigration benefits for people in the United States from the 19 travel ban countries and Stop issuing visas to Afghans Which helped the American war effort.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Thursday that it will shorten the period of time in which work permits are valid for some applicants such as refugees and asylum seekers, so they have to reapply more often and undergo scrutiny more frequently.