US Homeland Security secretary asks for greater travel bans
US Homeland Security Secretary asks for greater travel bans
Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, has stated that she will suggest a travel ban on a number of nations that she believes are "flooding" the US with criminal activity.
After meeting President Donald Trump, Noem said on social media on Monday that she had made the decision to propose "a full travel ban on every damn country that's been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies."
Noem's message was subsequently reposted on the official social media accounts of both Trump and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
It is not yet known which nations the planned travel ban would touch, or when it could begin. The BBC was informed by the DHS that the list would be released shortly.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Monday evening that Trump had imposed a travel ban several months ago on "third-world and failed-state" countries and that Noem's plan would "widen" it to embrace more nations.
The White House said on June 4 that 19 nations, mostly in Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean, would be subject to complete or partial immigration restrictions.
Several US sources told CBS News, the BBC's US partner, that Noem's additions would increase that list to roughly 30 countries in total.
Noem's comments come days after two National Guard members were shot in Washington DC last Wednesday. Prior to her comments about a travel ban, Noem wrote on social media that 100,000 Afghan nationals entered the US under the Biden-era Operation Allies Welcome programme, and she said the DHS would overhaul the vetting process.
Officials identified the suspect in the DC shooting as an Afghan national who entered the US in 2021 as part of that programme, which was designed for locals who had worked with American troops during the 20-year US deployment to Afghanistan.
The suspect had mental health issues after coming to the US, according to communications from the previous year that CBS News was able to get.
The Trump administration has strengthened its immigration crackdown in the wake of the killing, which killed Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and critically injured Andrew Wolfe, 24. Governor Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia informed reporters on Monday that although Mr Wolfe had given nurses the thumbs up, he was still in critical condition at the hospital.
All decisions on asylum petitions were also delayed after the DC massacre, with US Citizenship and Immigration Services head Joseph Edlow saying it will remain paused "until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible".
Additionally, Edlow claims that Trump has requested him to examine green cards granted to people who immigrated to the US from 19 different nations.
Trump himself threatened to "permanently pause migration" from all "third-world countries" on Thursday. The phrase "third world" is one historically used to designate poorer, developing nations.
In his Thanksgiving social media post, Trump criticised refugees for producing "social dysfunction in America" and threatened to deport "anyone who is not a net asset" to the US.
Trump has attempted to implement mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, reduce the yearly number of refugee admissions, and terminate the automatic citizenship rights that many people born on US soil currently enjoy during his second term in office.
The Afghan Community Coalition of the United States issued a statement following the DC incident, expressing condolences for the families of the victims, calling for a "comprehensive investigation", and underlining it was the crime of one person. The statement also encouraged the US administration not to delay or suspend Afghan immigration petitions.
The coalition's statement, "Twenty years of Afghan-US partnership must not be forgotten," alluded to the US's two-decade campaign in 2001 to topple the Taliban and build security in Afghanistan.
The UN has asked the US to uphold international agreements on asylum seekers, news agency Reuters reported.
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