The State Department has identified 36 countries of concern that might be recommended for full or partial suspension of entry if they do not meet established benchmarks and requirements within 60 days,” Rubio said.
Twenty-five of these countries are in Africa. In addition to the East African countries, the others are Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Among the concerns the State Department raised was the lack of a competent or cooperative government by some of the countries mentioned to produce reliable identity documents, the memo said. Another was “questionable security” of that country’s passport.
Some countries, the memo said, were not cooperative in facilitating the removal of its nationals from the United States who were ordered to be removed. Some countries were overstaying the US visas their citizens were being granted.
Other reasons for concern were the nationals of the country were involved in acts of terrorism in the United States, or antisemitic and anti-American activity.
The memo noted that not all of these concerns pertained to every country listed.
The other countries on the list include several in Asia (Bhutan, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, and Syria); the Caribbean (Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Lucia); and three in Oceania (Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu).
Earlier this month, President Trump signed a proclamation banning the entry of citizens from 12 countries, saying the move was needed to protect the United States against “foreign terrorists” and other national security threats.
Seven of these countries were in Africa — Chad, Congo Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia and Sudan. The others were Afghanistan, Myanmar, Haiti, Iran and Yemen.
Entry to the US has also been partially restricted for people from seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
