Donald Trump's travel ban is set to expand to include six additional countries, revising a policy that sparked nation wide protests and confusion at American airports three years ago.
The White House announced the changes on Friday afternoon, capping off a major week for the president that saw him sign a signature trade renegotiation and face down an impeachment trial in the Senate.
The new policy would ban travel to the US for citizens of Nigeria — the most populous country in Africa — as well as travel for citizens of Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar and Kyrgzstan.
In announcing the expansion, the Trump administration said that the new limitations were designed to tighten security for countries that do not comply with American minimum security standards for combatting illegal immigration. The visas targeted by the new rules are distinct from the non-immigrant visas that are typically issued to visitors, which won't be impacted, said acting Homeland Security secretary Chad Wolf during a call with reporters.
Mr Wolf said during the phone call that problems facing those countries range from sub-par passport technology to a failure to sufficiently share information related to terrorism suspects, according to Reuters.
"These countries, for the most part, want to be helpful," Mr Wolf said. "But for a variety of different reasons simply failed to meet those minimum requirements that we laid out."
The new policy will not impact the terms of the original travel ban, which was first issued during Mr Trump's first week in office in January 2017.
That advisory barred travellers and nearly all immigrants coming form seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. North Korea and Venezuela have also been targeted for visa restrictions, but those measures have impacted relatively limited numbers of travellers.
The original travel ban was swiftly met with protests at airports around the US, and legal challenges. But, it was ultimately upheld by the US Supreme Court, citing the president's inherent concern with issues of national security.
The new policy would also see the US ending "diversity visas" for nationals of Sudan and Tanzania.
Reuters contributed to this report
