Trump admin eyes 36 additional countries to add to travel ban list

The Trump administration is considering a travel ban on 36 additional countries unless those nations meet certain requirements. The State Department memo identifies Egypt, Djibouti, and other nations in the Caribbean, Central Asia, and some Pacific Island nations.

That memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, viewed by the Washington Post, set a deadline of 8 am on Wednesday for those nations to provide a plan on how they would "meet new benchmarks and requirements" within 60 days.

"The memo identified varied benchmarks that, in the administration’s estimation, these countries were failing to meet," the Washington Post reported. "Some countries had 'no competent or cooperative central government authority to produce reliable identity documents or other civil documents,' or they suffered from 'widespread government fraud.' Others had large numbers of citizens who overstayed their visas in the United States, the memo said."

The full list of nations that could be facing restrictions include: 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.

Reasons include that some of the nations have "no competent or cooperative central government authority to produce reliable identity documents or other civil documents," while other nations have way too many people in the US who have overstayed their visas. Still other nations are targeted due to "widespread government fraud."

The previous proclamation fully restricted entry for persons from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. This is due to those nations' deficiencies in their screening and vetting processes, meaning they pose a "very high risk" to US security. Entry for nationals from the seven additional countries of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela is partially restricted.