- “There is no [travel ban] List, “explains the State Department Spox Tammy Bruce.
- Said the administration that seeks to protect us due to the visa program.
- The reports suggest that Washington has prepared a list of 41 countries.
Washington: In the midst of highly publicized speculation concerning any travel restrictions by the administration of President Donald Trump, the US State Department has excluded the existence of any travel ban list.
“There is no list. What people are watching in recent days is not a list here that is being implemented,” said State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce at a press conference while answering a question concerning the status of Afghanistan on the alleged travel ban list.
The spokesperson’s refutation comes a few days after a draft list emerged the names of 41 countries – including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iranm and others – divided into three distinct groups which are subject to various degrees of travel restrictions.
In the list, according to the memo seen by ReutersPakistan was included in a group that would be taken into account for a partial suspension of the visa issue if their governments “do not make an effort to deal with gaps within 60 days”.
The first group of 10 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Cuba and North Korea, among others, would be placed for a complete visa suspension.
In the second group, five countries – Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar and South Sudan – would face partial suspensions that would have an impact on tourist and students visas as well as other immigrant visas, a few exceptions.
In the third group, a total of 26 countries, including Belarus, Pakistan and Turkmenistan, would be considered a partial suspension of the American visa program if their governments are not addressed to relevant gaps within 60 days.
An American official speaking on condition of anonymity has been warned that there could be changes on the list and that he has not yet been approved by the administration, including the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
This decision reflects the ban during Trump’s first presidential mandate on travelers of seven predominantly Muslim nations, a policy that has undergone several iterations before it was confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2018.
Trump has published a decree of January 20 demanding an intensified verification of the security of any foreigner requesting admission to the United States to detect national security threats.
Expanding reports from the alleged list of travel restrictions, the head of the State Department, Bruce, said that there was an examination, via the executive order of President Trump, so that the administration “examines the nature of what will help to keep America safely in the treatment of the question of visas and which is authorized in the country”.
“But what has been presented as something that is an element of the State Department is simply not the case,” she said.
