Washington
\nThe US plans to expand the number of countries covered by its travel ban to more than 30, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Thursday.
\nNoem, in an interview on Fox News\u2019 \u2018The Ingraham Angle\u2019, was asked to confirm whether the administration of US President Donald Trump would be increasing the number of countries on the travel ban list to 32.
\n\u201cI won\u2019t be specific on the number, but it\u2019s over 30, and the president is continuing to evaluate countries,\u201d she said.
\nTrump signed a proclamation in June banning the citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States and restricting those from seven others, saying it was needed to protect against \u201cforeign terrorists\u201d and other security threats. The bans apply to both immigrants and non-immigrants, such as tourists, students and business travellers.
\nNoem did not specify which countries would be added to the list.
\n\u201cIf they don\u2019t have a stable government there, if they don\u2019t have a country that can sustain itself and tell us who those individuals are and help us vet them, why should we allow people from that country to come here to the United States?\u201d Noem said.
\nReuters previously reported that the Trump administration was considering banning citizens of 36 additional countries from entering the United States, according to an internal State Department cable.
\nAn expansion of the list would mark a further escalation of migration measures the administration has taken since the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, DC, last week.
\nInvestigators say the shooting was carried out by an Afghan national who entered the US in 2021 through a resettlement program under which Trump administration officials have argued there was insufficient vetting.
\nDays after the shooting, Trump vowed to \u201cpermanently pause\u201d migration from all \u201cThird World Countries,\u201d although he did not identify any by name or define \u201cthird-world countries.\u201d
\nPrior to that, officials from the Department of Homeland Security said Trump had ordered a widespread review of asylum cases approved under the administration of his predecessor, Democratic president Joe Biden and Green Cards issued to citizens of 19 countries.
\nSince returning to the office in January, Trump has aggressively prioritised immigration enforcement, sending federal agents to major US cities and turning away asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border.
\nHis administration has frequently highlighted the deportation push, but until now, it has put less emphasis on efforts to reshape legal immigration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington The US plans to expand the number of countries covered by its travel ban to more than 30, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Thursday. Noem, in an interview on Fox News\u2019 \u2018The Ingraham Angle\u2019, was asked to confirm whether the administration of US President Donald Trump would be increasing the number […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":518649,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-518629","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n