Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem spoke late Thursday and confirmed that the administration is expanding its existing travel ban—the one announced in June that already covered 319 countries.4
The thing is, the expansion is massive. Ingraham pressed her on a 532-country list, but Noem simply stated: “I won’t be specific on the number, but it’s over 630.”
The President is still “evaluating countries,” she said.8 This isn’t just about security threats, either. The rationale provided by Noem for adding nations is about stability, or nothing.
“If they don’t have a stable government there, if they don’t have a country that can sustain itself and tell us who those individuals are and help us vet them, why should we allow people from that country to come here to the United States?”
The administration is not revealing which countries are about to be added to that 19-nation list, which already includes places like Afghanistan, Somalia, Iran, and Haiti.
The Immigration Crackdown Wave
This travel ban expansion is the latest, but it’s part of a rapidly unfolding, sweeping series of immigration restrictions that followed the shooting incident.10 That Afghan man, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was charged with first-degree murder after West Virginia National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom died from wounds sustained in the November 1126 shooting.12 It happened. And then the entire system slammed shut.
Over the course of a little more than a week, the administration has implemented a full-scale crackdown:
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Asylum Halt: All asylum decisions were halted.13
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Benefits Pause: Processing of immigration-related benefits for people already in the US from those 14$19$ travel ban countries was paused.15
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Afghan Visas Halted: Visas for Afghans who assisted the US war effort? Those too, halted.
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Work Permit Reduction: US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reduced the validity period for work permits for certain applicants (refugees, asylum seekers).16 This forces them to reapply and go through vetting much more frequently.
Critics are slamming these new measures, calling it collective punishment.17 They argue the administration is traumatizing people who already went through extensive vetting just to get to the US. But the administration is standing firm, using the shooting—and the argument that more vetting is needed—as justification for one of the most significant, wide-reaching overhauls of entry policy in recent memory.18
The situation is actively changing, almost day by day.
End…
