Trump 2.0 looks mighty different from Trump 1.0 but there are a few crucial areas of overlap. His penchant for tariffs is one of those things, as covered yesterday. His fixation on projecting strength at the border is another. But now it's looking like President Donald Trump will also be reviving another first-term relic that threw people into chaos and instability and ignited some of the earliest #resistance actions: travel bans.
"A draft recommendation circulating inside the executive branch proposes a 'red' list of countries whose citizens Mr. Trump could bar from entering the United States," several White House officials tell The New York Times. That red list will most resemble the first-term travel ban list, possibly including Afghanistan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. It's likely the list will be released within the next two weeks.
Afghans who have been traveling outside the country, who are on valid visas, have been urged to come back immediately lest they get shut out of the country, reports Reuters. And the tens of thousands of Afghans cleared for refugee resettlement or Special Immigrant Visas because of their roles in aiding the U.S. military during the war (as well as their legitimate fears of Taliban retribution for their roles), believe their status to be jeopardized.
