US Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, said on Thursday that the administration of President Donald Trump plans to increase the number of countries included in the travel ban to more than 30 countries.
In an interview with "Fox News," Noem was asked to confirm whether the Trump administration would increase the number of countries on the travel ban list to 32.
Noem responded by saying, "I won't be specific about the number, but it's more than 30 countries, and the president continues to assess the countries".
In June, Trump signed a proclamation banning the entry of citizens from 12 countries into the United States and placing restrictions on the entry of citizens from 7 other countries, stating that it was necessary to protect against "foreign terrorists" and other security threats.
The ban applies to immigrants and non-immigrants including tourists, students, and business travelers.
The US Secretary did not specify which countries would be added.
Noem mentioned, "If they don't have a stable government there, and if they don't have a country capable of supporting itself and identifying these individuals and helping us verify their identities, then why allow people from that country to come to the United States?".
Reuters, based on an internal State Department cable, previously stated that the Trump administration is considering banning the entry of citizens from an additional 36 countries into the United States.
Expanding the list would be an additional escalation in the immigration measures taken by the administration since a shooting at two members of the National Guard in Washington DC last week.
Investigators say that "the shooting was carried out by an Afghan citizen who entered the United States in 2021 through a resettlement program which Trump officials say did not include sufficient vetting measures".
Days after the shooting, Trump pledged "to completely stop immigration" from all "third world countries," without naming any specific country or specifying which countries he meant by "third world countries".
