Demonstrators in Boston spell out '#No Muslim Ban' during a protest against US President Donald Trump's original executive order banning travel from several Muslim-majority countries, January 29, 2017. (Reuters Archives)
US President Donald Trump said his administration was preparing to add a "couple of countries" to the controversial list of states whose citizens are subject to travel bans or severe restrictions on entry to the United States.
"We are adding a couple of countries to it. We have to be safe. Our country has to be safe," he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, adding that the names of the new countries would be announced, "very shortly."
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that the administration planned to add seven countries including Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, and others in Africa and Asia.
Compliance with security requirements
Nigeria, for example, Africa's largest economy and most populous country, is a US anti-terrorism partner and has a large diaspora residing in the United States.
A senior Trump administration official said that countries that failed to comply with security requirements, including biometrics, information-sharing and counterterrorism measures, faced the risk of limitations on US immigration.
The Wall Street Journal said the other nations being considered for new rules were Belarus, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Sudan, and Tanzania.
The first package of travel bans and restrictions — targeting mainly Muslim majority countries — were announced shortly after Trump took office in January 2017 and outraged his critics.
Chad was previously covered under the ban but was removed in April 2018.
Citizens of the countries can apply for waivers to the ban, but they are exceedingly rare.
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