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President Donald Trump's administration is reportedly considering travel restrictions for citizens of dozens of countries, according to a memo obtained by Reuters on Saturday (March 15).
The memo reportedly contains 41 countries divided into three separate groups with the first of 10 including Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Cuba and North Korea, among others, which would be prone to see a full visa suspension. A second group of five countries -- Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar and South Sudan -- would potentially face partial suspensions impacting tourist and student visas, as well as other immigrant visas, though some exceptions would be included.
A third group of 26 countries, which includes Belarus, Pakistan and Turkmenistan, would reportedly face partial suspension from issuing U.S. visas if their country avoids making "efforts to address deficiencies within 60 days," the memo states. A U.S. official spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, specifying that there could be changes made to the memo, which was still pending approval of the Trump administration, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The move is similar to a previous ban on travelers from seven majority-Muslim nations implemented by President Trump during his first administration, which went through several iterations before being upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.
