Too much Iberiberism: Trump speaks on travel ban ‘targeting Nigeria’

President Donald Trump said he plans to add countries to his existing travel ban to bar more foreign nationals from entry into the US.

The current ban – signed by Mr Trump two years ago – closed US borders to citizens from seven countries, most with Muslim majorities.

Libya, Iran, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, North Korea and Venezuela are affected.

Countries from Europe, Africa and Asia are being considered for the expanded order, according to US media.

Mr Trump confirmed that more countries will be added.

“You see what’s going on in the world, our country has to be safe,” he told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday.

He gave no further details on which countries would be targeted or how many, but said that the information would be released “very shortly”.

The expanded list, first reported by Politico, may include Belarus, Myanmar (also known as Burma), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania. Different versions of this list have been considered among the administration for weeks, US media said.

Reports of the expanded ban come just after the three-year anniversary of the initial order.

But Trump administration might not place full visa bans on the affected countries.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the restriction may be limited to certain types of visas like the business or visitor visa popularly referred to as B1/B2 visa type.

The new restrictions, expected to be announced on Monday, next week, will coincide with the third anniversary of the first list Trump signed into law after assuming the US’ Presidency.

– BBC