New Trump policy likely to ban US entry for Pakistanis from next week: reports

Based on a government review of the country’s security and vetting, a new travel ban imposed by President Donald Trump could prevent people from Pakistan and Afghanistan from entering the United States (US) as early as next week.

According to Reuters, other countries might also be included on the list. However, the country names were not mentioned.

This action recalls the Republican president's initial travel ban on citizens from seven majority-Muslim countries, a policy that underwent multiple revisions before being upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.

Former President Joe Biden repealed the ban in 2021, calling it “a stain on our national conscience”.

The new ban could affect tens of thousands of Afghans who have been cleared for resettlement in the US as refugees or on Special Immigrant Visas because they are at risk of Taliban retribution for working for the country during a 20-year war in their home country, Reuters said.

Trump issued an executive order on January 20 requiring intensified security vetting of any foreigners seeking admission to the US to detect national security threats. The order directed several cabinet members to submit by March 12 a list of countries from which travel should be partly or fully suspended because their “vetting and screening information is so deficient”.

Afghanistan will be included in the recommended list of countries for a complete travel ban, and Pakistan would also be recommended for inclusion, Reuters reported.

Afghans cleared for resettlement in the U.S. as refugees or on the special visas first undergo intense screening that makes them “more highly vetted than any population” in the world.

The State Department office that oversees their resettlement is seeking an exemption for Special Immigrant Visa holders from the travel ban “but it’s not assumed likely to be granted,” Reuters reported citing sources.

The Taliban, who seized Kabul as the last US troops pulled out in August 2021 after two decades of war, are confronting an insurgency by Islamic State’s regional branch. Pakistan also is grappling with violent Islamist militants.

Shawn VanDiver, the head of #AfghanEvac, a coalition of groups that coordinates evacuation and resettlement of Afghans with the US government, urged those holding valid visas to travel as soon as possible if they can.

There are some 200,000 Afghans who have been approved for resettlement or have pending US refugee and Special Immigrant Visa applications. They have been stranded in Afghanistan and nearly 90 other countries -- including about 20,000 in Pakistan -- since January 20, when Trump ordered a 90-day freeze on refugee admissions and foreign aid that funds their flights.