In addition to imposing broad restrictions and prohibitions on tourists from 19 nations, President Donald Trump has issued a terrifying threat that Egypt might be the next to follow.
The new order will take effect on June 9 and prohibit entry into the United States for citizens of Afghanistan, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
All immigrant visas and a number of non-immigrant travel alternatives will be partially restricted for citizens of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
In the wake of the Colorado terror attack, where an Egyptian national who had overstayed his visa allegedly set fire to pro-Israel protesters, Trump also warned that Egypt would soon be added to the list of countries that are prohibited from flying.
“We don’t want ’em,’ Trump said bluntly in a video released shortly after the ban was announced.”
“Very simply, we cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen.”
Mohamed Soliman was living in the United States illegally with his wife and five children when he was accused of firebombing pro-Israel protesters.
The president has instructed a number of his senior national security officials to look into the possibility of adding Egypt to the list of countries that are subject to restrictions.
“In light of recent events, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence, shall provide me an update to the review of the practices and procedures of Egypt,” he wrote in a Wednesday proclamation.
Their efforts should “confirm the adequacy of its current screening and vetting capabilities,” according to Trump.
“Understood the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted,” he said of the Boulder disaster.
“We’ve seen one terror attack after another from foreign visa overstayers… thanks to Biden’s open door policies today there are millions and millions of these illegals who should not be in our country.”
Egypt is on high alert as a number of the countries that are subject to restrictions have been singled out due to their inadequate screening and vetting skills.
Trump pointed out that inadequate screening and vetting procedures contributed to the inclusion of Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, Sudan, and Yemen on the restricted list.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson wrote on X: “President Trump is fulfilling his promise to protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors that want to come to our country and cause us harm.”
“These commonsense restrictions are country-specific and include places that lack proper vetting, exhibit high visa overstay rates, or fail to share identity and threat information.”
“President Trump will ALWAYS act in the best of interest of the American people and their safety.”
Trump declared a travel ban on citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries during his first term in office. The policy underwent multiple revisions until the Supreme Court affirmed it in 2018.
The ban was revoked in 2021 by former President Joe Biden, a Democrat who replaced Trump, who described it as “a stain on our national conscience.”
In his proclamation, however, Trump praised the achievements of his first travel restrictions in 2017.
“During my first Administration, I restricted the entry of foreign nationals into the United States, which successfully prevented national security threats from reaching our borders and which the Supreme Court upheld,” the president wrote.
“It is the policy of the United States to protect its citizens from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes.”
“The United States must be vigilant during the visa-issuance process to ensure that those aliens approved for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans or our national interests.”
More significantly, before allowing such foreigners to enter the country, the United States must identify them.
“The United States must ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists or other threats to our national security.”
According to Trump, the list is “subject to revision” if countries improve their nationals’ screening procedures.
In a similar vein, Trump may decide to add more countries to the list if he later determines that they represent a national security threat.
However, as of right now, the countries on the list have let Trump down in a number of ways, such as by restricting the United States’ access to security data or having a high percentage of citizens who overstay their visas.
As far as Iranian citizens are concerned, the government ‘is a state sponsor of terrorism.’
In that instance, Trump argued, “Iran regularly fails to cooperate with the United States Government in identifying security risks, is the source of significant terrorism around the world, and has historically failed to accept back its removable nationals.”
Similarly, the inclusion of Somalia comes after “The United States Government identified Somalia as a terrorist safe haven.”
“Terrorists use regions of Somalia as safe havens from which they plan, facilitate, and conduct their operations.”
Trump contended that Haitians are more likely to attempt to overstay their visas.
“Additionally, hundreds of thousands of illegal Haitian aliens flooded into the United States during the Biden Administration,” the president said.
“This influx harms American communities by creating acute risks of increased overstay rates, establishment of criminal networks, and other national security threats.”
President Trump was upset with hundreds of Haitian migrants who had relocated to Springfield, Ohio, in the lead-up to the election, saying that some of them were even consuming pets.
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