(Politico) President Donald Trump will expand his contentious travel ban, placing new restrictions on six additional countries, just as he embarks on a tough reelection campaign where he will tout his hard-line stance on immigration.
Immigrant visas will be suspended for citizens of four countries — Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, Myanmar (also known as Burma), Eritrea and Kyrgyzstan — while people from Sudan and Tanzania will be barred from the U.S. diversity visa program, which awards green cards to immigrants. The new restrictions won’t apply to tourist, business or other nonimmigrant travel, according to Homeland Security Department officials who detailed the new updates on Friday.
The new order, which Trump signed Friday and will go into effect on Feb. 22, immediately restarted the debate over whether the travel ban singles out Muslims, while also drawing renewed attention to the president’s past remarks about “shithole countries” in Africa and his specific remarks that Nigerians coming to the U.S. will never “go back to their huts.”
