“President Donald Trump and his top aides are weighing rules designed to clamp down on countries whose nationals overstay short-term visitor visas as part of a broader push for new ways to curb immigration,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The effort would target nationals of countries with high overstay rates of such visas, which include the African nations of Nigeria, Chad, Eritrea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to Department of Homeland Security data.
As part of the proposed measure being discussed by senior White House officials, visas could become harder to get for applicants from countries with high rates of overstaying visas and, when issued, the visa validity periods could also become shorter. In the long-term, such countries could also face outright bans. WSJ also reports that the White House is looking to tighten rules around student and investor visas.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, particularly receives a vast majority of non-immigrant B1/B2 visas issued to Africans. The country accounted for over 25% of visas issued to Africans in 2018 alone.
It’s not the first time African countries have been caught in the cross-hairs of president Donald Trump’s continued clampdown on immigration. Three African countries—Sudan, Libya and Somalia—were directly implicated in Trump’s infamous “Muslim ban,” issued by an executive order within weeks of his inauguration.
Another less discussed part of the executive order on immigration also pushed for the US State department to become stricter on reciprocity for visa fees, processing and validity period.