US President Donald Trump’s new travel ban could block people from Afghanistan and Pakistan from entering the United States next week, based on a government review of the countries’ security and vetting risks.
According to the British news agency ‘Reuters’, three sources familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that other countries could also be added to the list but they did not know which countries.
The move comes after the Republican president banned travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries during his first term, a policy that was repeated several times before being upheld by the US Supreme Court in 2018.
Former President Joe Biden ended the ban in 2021, calling it a stain on the national conscience.
The new ban could affect thousands of Afghans who have been cleared to resettle in the United States as refugees or on special immigrant visas because they risk Taliban retaliation for working for the United States during the 20-year war in their homeland.
Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 20 directing the administration to step up security screening of any foreign national seeking entry into the United States to identify national security threats.
The order directed several Cabinet members to submit by March 12 a list of countries from which travel should be partially or completely suspended because of their scant testing and screening data.
Afghanistan would be included in the list of countries being proposed for a full travel ban, three sources and one other source said on condition of anonymity.
The Departments of State, Justice and Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, whose leaders are overseeing the move, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Afghans cleared to resettle in the United States as refugees or on special visas must first undergo rigorous screening, one source noted, making them “more scrutinized than any other population” in the world.
The State Department office that oversees their resettlement is seeking exemptions from the travel ban for holders of special immigrant visas, but approval is unlikely, the sources said.
Reuters reported last month that the office, which coordinates Afghan resettlement efforts, has been asked to develop a plan to close it by April.
The Afghan Taliban, who took control of Kabul after the last US troops withdrew in August 2021 after two decades of war, are facing an insurgency from the regional branch of the militant Islamic State group, while Pakistan is also battling hardline Islamist militants.
Trump’s directive is part of an immigration crackdown he launched at the start of his second term.
He outlined his plan in an October 2023 speech, promising to restrict people from the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and “any other place that poses a threat to US security.”
Sean Van Dever, head of #AfghanEvac, a coalition of groups working with the US government to evacuate and resettle Afghans, has urged US visa holders to travel as soon as possible if possible.
He said in a statement that although no formal announcement has been made, multiple US government sources said a new travel ban could go into effect within the next week.
He said it could have a significant impact on Afghan visa holders who are waiting to be transferred to the US.
There are about 200,000 Afghans who have been approved for US resettlement or have pending applications for US refugee and special immigrant visas.
They have been stranded in Afghanistan and about 90 other countries, including about 20 in Pakistan, since January 20, when Trump ordered a freeze on refugee admissions and foreign aid for 90 days.
