The list of countries banned by the Trump administration’s newest order seems to have no rhyme or reason. Little connects Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, all targeted for a total ban, or Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela, all targeted for restrictions. The reasoning stated in the order is that they all pose security threats measured by “whether each country has a significant terrorist presence within its territory, its visa-overstay rate, and its cooperation with accepting back its removable nationals”.
Visa overstays, the order elaborates, “indicates a blatant disregard for United States immigration laws”. Yet the latest data on overstays from Customs and Border Protection does show these countries high on the list, along with others not included.
