Trump may include Nigeria, 7 others on travel ban list

The President Donald Trump administration in the United States is said to be considering expanding countries under its travel ban list with Nigeria being among countries under watch.

Other countries under watch include Belarus, Myanmar (also known as Burma), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan, and Tanzania.

Trump confirmed reports of the expansion to the Wall Street Journal while at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday.

He confirmed that the administration would be updating the list of countries in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

While he wouldn’t reveal which nations would be added, Politico spoke with sources who said the new restrictions would bar immigrants and travelers from countries including Belarus, Myanmar (also known as Burma), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania.

Administration officials said the bans would not wholly bar all travelers from entering the US, just individuals with certain visas such as business or visitor visas.

Trump’s first controversial travel ban was issued in January 2017 and drew sharp criticism for singling out Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

Two versions of the original order were struck down twice in federal court, which ruled the immigration policy amounted to discrimination towards Muslim travelers. A third version of the immigration policy prohibiting travel from Syria, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, North Korea, and Venezuela was finally upheld by the Supreme Court in June 2018.

Administration officials said the list isn’t final and that a couple more countries could be added. The expanded immigration policy could be released as early as next Monday, which would be the third anniversary of Trump’s original order.

Trump continues to maintain that the contentious travel bans are put in place to protect Americans from potential terrorist attacks.

“We have to be tough, and we have to be safe, we have to be secure… at a minimum, we have to make sure we vet people coming into our country,” Trump said following the Supreme Court ruling that upheld the ban.