ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump expanded a travel ban by barring people from seven more countries, including Syria, as well as Palestinian Authority passport holders, from entering the United States.
The latest move brings to nearly 40 the number of countries whose citizens face restrictions in coming to the United States solely by virtue of nationality, with Trump also tightening rules for routine travel from Western nations.
It comes as Trump, who has long made hostility to immigration a signature issue, orders mass deportations and takes an increasingly strident tone against non-white new Americans.
The White House in a proclamation, said it was banning foreigners who “intend to threaten” Americans.
Trump also wants to prevent foreigners in the United States who would “undermine or destabilize its culture, government, institutions or founding principles,” the proclamation said.
The official expansion comes as President Donald Trump has ramped up his immigration crackdown citing the shooting in Washington, DC, that killed one National Guard member and critically wounded another.
The shooting suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is an Afghan national who previously worked with the US in Afghanistan, resettling in Washington state under the Biden administration and then being granted asylum under the Trump administration.
Trump has since halted or significantly tightened every legal and illegal form of foreign entry into the US, in addition to his ongoing mass deportation campaign. Other policy shifts include a pause on asylum decisions, a review of cases under the Biden administration, and a “reexamination” of certain green-card holders.
In his first term, Trump barred travelers from seven majority-Muslim nations from coming to the US, a policy that saw court challenges. The Supreme Court upheld the third version of Trump’s travel ban that was issued in 2017. It restricted entry in varying degrees from Iran, North Korea, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Venezuela.
In contrast, the Trump administration earlier launched a new website offering applications for a so-called “gold card,” an expedited US residency visa aimed at wealthy foreigners willing to pay at least $1 million.
Pakistani applicants, like others, will have to submit a non-refundable processing fee of $15,000 before the Department of Homeland Security begins vetting their documents.
According to the portal, successful candidates will then pay $1 million to secure “fast-track” permanent residency. The card displayed on the site carries Donald Trump’s portrait, an American flag in the background, and the title “Trump Gold Card.”
Also read: Trump Hints at Imposing New Tariffs on India
