Washington, 17 December (H.S.): President Donald Trump escalated his immigration crackdown Tuesday by imposing full entry prohibitions on nationals from seven additional countries—Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Syria, and Laos—alongside a total bar on Palestinian Authority passport holders, citing deficient vetting regimes and national security perils.

The proclamation, effective January 1, 2026, balloons the full-ban roster to 19 states while layering partial curbs on 20 more, encompassing Nigeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, predicated on elevated crime, passport fraud, and overstay risks.

This salvo follows an Afghan veteran's alleged shooting of National Guard troops and Syrian troop slayings post-Assad, amplifying Trump's rhetoric decrying entrants from shithole countries and Somalis as garbage.

Prior full bans persist on Afghanistan, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, exempting green-card holders and select visas; critics like Rep. Rashida Tlaib decried the measure as racist demographic engineering amid solidarity with Israel against Palestinian statehood bids.

The White House hailed Turkmenistan's vetting strides for nonimmigrant visa reinstatement, framing the edict as safeguarding American culture and institutions from destabilizing inflows.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar