Washington, Dec 17 (V7N) — The United States administration has expanded its travel ban policy by adding seven more countries to the list of nations facing a full travel ban, effectively barring their citizens from entering the United States.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to this effect on Tuesday.

According to the order, the newly added countries under the full travel ban are Laos, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria.

Earlier, in June, the Trump administration had imposed a full travel ban on 12 countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.

In addition to the full ban, the administration has also placed 15 new countries under partial travel restrictions. With these latest measures, the total number of countries facing either full or partial travel bans by the United States has now risen to 39.

The White House said the decision was taken after identifying “serious deficiencies” in screening procedures, identity verification, and information-sharing systems related to citizens of the listed countries. The administration claims the move is necessary to strengthen national security and immigration controls.

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