Washington DC – United States immigration restrictions ordered by President Donald Trump came into force on January 1, widening the list of countries whose citizens face full or partial limits on entry into the US.
Updated guidance from US Customs and Border Protection shows that the restrictions apply to both immigrants and non immigrants under executive orders signed earlier this year and implemented through a government document dated December 29. The White House said the measures are linked to national security and public safety concerns.
Under the full entry restrictions, travellers from Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Myanmar, Niger, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen are barred from entering the United States. 
Partial entry restrictions apply to a wider group of countries, including Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, the Palestinian Authority, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Immigration advocates argue that the list largely affects African and Muslim majority countries, while US authorities maintain that the decisions are based on security assessments and compliance with information sharing requirements.
The travel measures coincide with changes to the H1B visa programme, which took effect earlier this week. The programme allows US employers to hire foreign nationals with specialised skills, a pathway often used by African graduates, including those from Southern Africa.
The revised system replaces the previous random lottery with a weighted selection that favours higher wage earners. US Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson Matthew Tragesser said the earlier process had been misused by employers seeking lower paid foreign labour and that the new model is intended to attract higher skilled and better paid professionals.
Immigration attorney Rosanna Berardi said the changes will significantly reduce the number of applicants who qualify and make it harder for international students to remain in the US after completing their studies.
