President Trump expands travel ban on US starting January 1st
President Donald Trump expanded the travel ban on the United States to 39 countries, citing national security and foreign policy concerns.
BAMAKO – Mali and Burkina Faso announced they are imposing travel bans on U.S. citizens, countering comparable measures announced by the Trump administration earlier this month.
The two West African countries said they were acting in the name of “reciprocity” in a separate statement released by the foreign ministry late Tuesday, after the White House announced on Dec. 16 that President Donald Trump was adding them and five other countries to the list of countries subject to a total travel ban.
The White House said the expanded ban, scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1, would apply to “countries with demonstrable persistent and serious deficiencies in testing, testing, and information sharing to protect the country from national security and public safety threats.”
Mali said on Tuesday that the US decision to add Mali to the travel ban list was made without prior consultation and that the stated rationale was not justified by “actual developments on the ground.”
Mali and Burkina Faso are not the first countries to take such measures affecting U.S. citizens after being targeted by President Trump’s travel restrictions.
Neighboring Niger announced on December 25 that it would stop issuing visas to U.S. citizens, state media reported, citing Nigerian diplomatic sources.
In June, Chad announced it would suspend issuing visas to U.S. citizens after Chad was included on a previous list of 12 countries affected by the travel ban.
(Reporting by Mali Newsroom, writing by Robbie Corey Boulet.)
