US Threatens Pakistan Travel Ban”

NEW YORK –Pakistan has been included in a group that would be considered for partial suspension of visa issuance if their governments “do not make efforts to address deficiencies within 60 days” as part of new ban by Donald Trump’s administration.

The Trump administration is considering issuing sweeping travel restrictions for the citizens of dozens of countries, according to sources familiar with the matter and an internal memo seen by Reuters refine

The Donald Trump administration is reportedly considering massive travel restrictions on 43 countries as it has intensified the immigration crackdown.

Reports said an internal memo divides these countries into three separate categories, recommending different level of restrictions on citizens of these countries.

The memo lists a total of 41 countries divided into three separate groups. The first group of 10 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Cuba and North Korea among others, would be set for a full visa suspension.

In the second group, five countries — Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar and South Sudan — would face partial suspensions that would impact tourist and student visas as well as other immigrant visas, with some exceptions.

In the third group, a total of 26 countries that includes Belarus, Pakistan and Turkmenistan among others would be considered for a partial suspension of US visa issuance if their governments “do not make efforts to address deficiencies within 60 days”, the memo said.

The first group, which is called red list: 

Countries includes

Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen.

The Trump administration is considering full travel ban on citizens of these countries.

The second group, called ‘orange list:

Includes 10 Countries:

Belarus, Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Turkmenistan.

The administration considers travel restrictions under which tourists and immigrants would face sweeping restriction while business visas will be issued to affluent businessmen.

The third category, yellow list:

Countries includes

Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Congo, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Sao Tome and Principe, Vanuatu and Zimbabwe.

These countries will be given 60 days to address the deficiencies in order avoid travel ban.

It is recalled that Trump issued an executive order to intensify crackdown on illegal immigrants shortly after his second inauguration in January this year.

Read more: UAE Not Imposing Visa Ban on Pakistan, Clarifies FM Ishaq Dar

The move harkens back to President Donald Trump’s first term ban on travellers from seven majority-Muslim nations, a policy that went through several iterations before it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.

Trump issued an executive order on January 20 requiring intensified security vetting of any foreigners seeking admission to the US to detect national security threats.

That order directed several cabinet members to submit by March 21 a list of countries from which travel should be partly or fully suspended because their “vetting and screening information is so deficient.”

Trump’s directive is part of an immigration crackdown that he launched at the start of his second term.

He previewed his plan in an October 2023 speech, pledging to restrict people from the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and “anywhere else that threatens our security.”