Donald Trump has reportedly proposed new travel bans on as many as 43 countries.
The draft list would see restrictions placed on individuals wishing to enter the U.S. and would be more extensive than those implemented by the president during his first term.
It would also include a so-called "red list" of 11 countries whose citizens would be prohibited from entering America. These would 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 at barring entry to America from countries that predominantly had majority Muslim populations.
Officials, who spoke to the New York Times on the condition of anonymity, said the list had been developed by the State Department several weeks ago, and changes to it were likely by the time it reached the White House. Officials at embassies and intelligence agencies across the globe have reviewed the draft.
They noted people 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, reports the Mirror.
Citizens covered on that list, including Belarus, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Turkmenistan, will be required to participate in mandatory face-to-face interviews to secure a visa. This comes after President Trump signed an executive order on January 20th, instructing the State Department to identify nations "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."
The department was given 60 days to compile a report, which is due next week. The State Department has previously stated its commitment to national security and public safety through stringent visa processes.
The draft ban also includes 22 "yellow" countries that have been given 60 days to address perceived deficiencies, with the threat of being moved to one of the other lists if they fail to do so. These countries include 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 reached out to the White House for comment on the reported new travel ban.
