News Brief
Pakistan, Bhutan Named In Trump Administration's List Of 41 Countries Facing Possible US Travel Ban: Report
US president Donald Trump.
The Trump administration is reportedly considering broad travel restrictions for citizens from 41 countries, news agency Reuters reported citing an internal memo and sources familiar with the discussions.
According to the memo, these 41 countries are categorised into three groups.
The first group consists of 10 nations, including Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Cuba, and North Korea, which would face a full visa suspension.
The second group includes five countries—Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, and South Sudan—that would be subject to partial visa suspensions.
These restrictions would affect tourist, student, and certain immigrant visas, though exceptions would apply.
A third category, comprising 26 countries such as Pakistan, Bhutan, and Myanmar, faces potential visa issuance suspensions.
The restrictions would take effect if their governments fail to "address deficiencies within 60 days," according to the memo.
The list of affected countries was first reported by The New York Times.
The proposed restrictions resemble Trump's first-term travel ban on seven majority-Muslim nations, a policy that underwent multiple revisions before receiving Supreme Court approval in 2018.
On 20 January this year, Trump signed an executive order mandating stricter security screening for foreign nationals seeking admission to the US to detect national security threats.
The order instructed key cabinet members to submit, by 21 March, a list of countries from which travel should be partly or fully suspended because their "vetting and screening information is so deficient."
This directive forms a key element of Trump's broader immigration crackdown, which was launched at the beginning of his second term.
