Pakistan among 41 nations likely to face Trump’s travel ban: Report

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, March 15, 2025: Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bhutan are among 41 countries that are likely to face a ban on travel to the United States as the Donald Trump administration gets cracking on curbing illegal immigration, according to a draft accessed by Reuters. Officials said the restrictions would be broader than the curbs imposed during the first term of Trump, when he banned travellers from seven majority-Muslim nations.

A draft list of recommendations by security officials clubs Pakistan with a group of 26 countries that could face a partial suspension of US visa issuance if the Shehbaz Sharif-led government fails to make efforts to address "deficiencies within 60 days".

Other countries in this group include Turkmenistan, Belarus, Bhutan and Vanuatu, which recently garnered attention after fugitive and ex-IPL chairperson Lalit Modi claimed to have acquired its citizenship.

Earlier this week, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry dismissed reports of a travel ban as "speculative". Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan stressed that Pakistan has not received any official indication of such curbs.

"As of now, this is all speculative and hence does not warrant a response," Khan said.

The latest flashpoint between the US and Pakistan comes days after Pakistani ambassador to Turkmenistan KK Ahsan Wagan was denied entry into America this week and was subsequently deported from Los Angeles. While the US has not given any specific reason, reports said Wagan was deported as the US immigration system detected "controversial visa references".

As per the draft, 10 countries have been put on a "red list" whose citizens would face a full visa suspension. They are Afghanistan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.

The proposed restrictions on a second group of five countries - Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar and South Sudan - will impact tourist and student visas as well as other immigrant visas, with some caveats.

On the very first day of him assuming office on January 20, Trump signed an executive order requiring extensive vetting of any foreigners seeking admission to the US to detect security threats.