A US Official said that Trump Administration was not considering a ban on Pakistanis traveling to the states. He said that the US did not need to impose a ban as Pakistanis as its officials were providing the data required to vet the visitors.
The recent press briefings point to the fact that Trump Administration does not plan to add other Muslim countries to the list of seven Muslim-majority countries already added to the list.
Countries Providing Vetting Data
The US official said that among the countries providing data included Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Lebanon. He warned that if the nature of the cooperation of these countries with the US changed, these countries could become part of this list.
The US Department of Homeland Security was very clear about the countries whose citizens were not allowed to enter the US. The statement read that the seven Muslim-majority countries mentioned earlier had their citizen’s visa entry paused. The statement went on to say that there were no other countries added to this list of countries.
One official told the BBC that the rumors of other countries to be put on that list were just not true, and there were no immediate plans to indicate any change.
Many of the White House Officials had said that these seven countries were not only on the watch list of Trump Administration. Even the Obama Administration had problems dealing with these countries as they were not providing data required to scrutinize their citizens.
The Department of Homeland Security also explained that it was not outright rejecting visa requests from these seven countries. Each case was considered on its merits to allow any waivers or exceptions wherever possible. DHS also said that the pause did not apply to citizens of the US, permanent residents, and those traveling on UN, Nato or Diplomatic visas.
An example of such exception is the special immigration visa holders who are nationals of these seven countries, can apply for a visa and receive national interest exception.
The Department of Homeland Security is working with the State Department and other stakeholders to review the information provided by each country. An important part of the review as per DHS is to establish real identities of the people applying for US visas.
