No Entry? Why Pakistanis and Afghans May Soon Be Barred from the US – wna24

Washington: Pakistanis and Afghans could be barred from getting into the United States of America as it is reported that President Trump is planning to impose a travel ban on Pakistan and Afghanistan due to security and vetting risks, according to Reuters report.

The move recalls Trump’s 2017 travel ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries, a controversial policy upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018 and later reversed by Biden. The ban included Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.

The report stated that the Trump administration compiled a “list” for the travel ban following a review of countries’ security and vetting risks. Sources told Reuters that other countries might also be added, though none were specified.

Apart from Pakistan and Afghanistan Other countries could also be on the travel ban list, three sources told Reuters, but they did not know which ones. 

The ban could affect tens and thousands of Afghans who were earlier cleared of resettlement in the US as refugees or on Special Immigrant Visas due to the risk of persecution by the Taliban for working for the US.

Also read: Suspect Kabul Airport Bombing Planner During Afghanistan Pullout Caught, Heading to US for Charges: Trump

This move came after the President Trump mentioned Pakistan in his address to the joint Congress in Capitol Hill. Trump had thanked Pakistan for aiding the extradition of Mohammad Sharifullah, was was allegedly involved in Kabul airport bombing during US’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Trump said, “I am pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity. And he is right now on his way here to face the swift sword of American justice,”

“I want to thank, especially, the government of Pakistan for helping arrest this monster.” he added.

After taking office on January 20, Trump issued an executive order requiring intensified security vetting of any foreigners seeking admission to the US to detect national security threats. The order directed several cabinet members to submit by March 12 a list of countries from which travel should be partly or fully suspended because their “vetting and screening information is so deficient.”

Trump’s directive is part of an immigration crackdown that he launched at the start of his second term.

He previewed his plan in an October 2023 speech, pledging to restrict people from the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and “anywhere else that threatens our security.”