US Homeland Security secretary calls for sweeping travel bans
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she would propose a travel ban on several countries that she claims are “inundating” the United States with criminal activity.
Writing on social media Monday, Noem said she met with President Donald Trump and decided to propose “a complete travel ban on every damn country that fills our country with murderers, leeches, and rights junkies.”
Trump and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) later shared Noem’s post on their respective official social media accounts.
It is not yet clear which countries the proposed travel ban will affect or when it might begin. DHS told the BBC it would release the list soon.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Monday evening that Trump had announced a travel ban on “third world and failed state” countries a few months ago, and Noem’s recommendation would “expand” that to more countries.
Listed at the White House on June 4 19 countriespredominantly in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean, which will face full or partial immigration restrictions.
Noem’s comments come days later two National Guard members shot Last Wednesday in Washington DC. Before her comments on the travel ban, Noem wrote on social media that 100,000 Afghan citizens had entered the United States under the Biden-era Operation Welcome Allies program and said DHS would overhaul its vetting process.
Authorities have identified the suspect in the D.C. shooting as an Afghan national who entered the United States in 2021 as part of a program designed for locals working with American troops during the 20-year U.S. deployment in Afghanistan.
The suspect was struggling with his mental health after arriving in the United States, according to emails from last year obtained by the BBC’s US partner CBS News.
The Trump administration has intensified its crackdown on immigrants following the shooting that killed 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom and seriously injured 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe. West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey told reporters on Monday that Mr. Wolfe responded to nurses with a thumbs-up, but that he remained in serious condition in the hospital.
All decisions on asylum requests were also paused following the D.C. shooting, with Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, saying the decision would be paused “until we ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the fullest extent possible.”
Edlow also said Trump asked him to review green cards issued to people who immigrated to the United States from 19 countries.
On Thursday, Trump went further, threatening to “permanently pause immigration” from all “third world countries.” The term “third world” was previously used to describe poorer, developing countries.
In his Thanksgiving social media post, Trump accused refugees of causing “social dysfunction in America” and vowed to deport “anyone who is not a net worth” to the United States.
During his second term, Trump sought to enact mass deportations of illegal immigrants, reduce annual refugee admissions, and end automatic citizenship rights that currently apply to many people born on U.S. soil.
The Afghan Community Coalition in the United States issued a statement after the D.C. attack, expressing its sympathy for the families of the victims, calling for a “thorough investigation” and emphasizing that the incident was the act of a single person. The statement also called on the US government not to delay or suspend Afghan immigration requests.
In the coalition’s statement, it was said, “The twenty-year Afghan-US partnership should not be forgotten,” referring to the twenty-year effort that the USA launched in 2001 to overthrow the Taliban rulers in Afghanistan and ensure security in the country.
According to Reuters news agency, the UN called on the USA to comply with international agreements regarding refugees.
