Donald Trump considering imposing new travel bans on '43 countries'
The draft list would restrict people wanting to come into the US from select countries and would be broader than those implemented by the Republican leader during his first term.
Donald Trump is considering imposing new travel bans on as many as 43 countries, according to reports.
The draft list would restrict people wanting to come into the US from select countries and would be broader than those implemented by the Republican leader during his first term.
As the Mirror reports, the ban will also include a so-called "red" list of 11 countries meaning citizens living in the countries listed would be banned from entering the US.
Countries in the red list include: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen, according to officials. An orange category would mean visas would be heavily restricted and a yellow listed country would mean they would have 60 days to address concerns.
The travel ban would be an expansion of Mr Trump's "Muslim ban" from his first term where he introduced a number of executive orders aimed to bar entry to the country from countries that predominantly had majority Muslim populations.
Anonymous sources who spoke to the New York Times, said the list had been developed by the State Department several weeks ago and changes to it were likely by the time it reached to the White House. Officials at embassies and intelligence agencies across the globe have reviewed the draft
They noted people on from an orange-listed country would not have full restrictions. In many cases, affluent people could be allowed to enter but not those traveling on immigrant or tourist visas.
Citizens on that list would also need to take part in mandatory in-person interviews in order to obtain a visa. The list includes: Belarus, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Turkmenistan.
After taking office on January 20, Mr Trump signed an executive order that required the State Department to identify countries "for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries."
He told the department it had 60 days to complete a report for him, which means it is due next week. The State Department previously said it was following Mr Trump's order and it was "committed to protecting our nation and its citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process."
The draft ban also includes 22 "yellow" countries that would be given 60 days to clear up what the US perceived as deficiencies with the threat of being moved to one of the other lists should they fail to implement them.
That list includes: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Vanuatu and Zimbabwe.
The Mirror has contacted the White House for comment on the reported new travel ban.