Trump expands travel ban to include 6 more countries

Jan. 31 (UPI) -- The Trump administration on Friday expanded its travel ban to include restricting visas for an additional six countries.

The proclamation bans people from Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar and Nigeria from receiving immigrant visas and suspends the visa lottery for people from Sudan and Tanzania.

A statement from White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said the new rules don't prevent people from these countries from traveling to the United States for tourism, business or other "non-immigrant travel."

The proclamation is an expansion of an executive order President Donald Trump signed in March 2017 limiting travel from people of six countries the administration said it deemed as security risks. Friday's proclamation keeps the following existing restrictions in place:

-- A ban on tourist or business visas for people from Libya and Yemen.

-- A ban on travel for some Venezuelan government officials.

-- A ban on all entry for people from Iran except for those traveling under student or exchange visitor visas.

-- A ban on Somalians traveling under immigrant visas.

-- And a ban on all travel by people from North Korea or Syria.

Chad initially was on the travel ban list, but the Trump administration removed it after saying the country improved its security measures.

"It is fundamental to national security, and the height of common sense, that if a foreign nation wishes to receive the benefits of immigration and travel to the United States, it must satisfy basic security conditions outlined by America's law-enforcement and intelligence professionals," Grisham's statement read.

Amnesty International said the travel ban is "rooted in hate, white supremacy and racism." The first version of the ban was criticized for targeting Muslim-majority countries.

"These policies are not only cruel and senseless, they have manufactured a crisis of the administration's own making. Instead of making our country safe, these policies have endangered thousands of lives, torn families apart, and abandoned values long cherished by so many in the U.S.," Amnesty International said in a statement.

"The Trump administration has once again made it clear that it intends to turn its back on people in need of safety and a new home -- and is willing to implement policies that needlessly target nationals of entire countries."