US May Extend 'Travel Ban' With Additional Screening and More States Included

The Trump administration intends to update its "travel ban" imposed earlier this year on citizens from six majority-Muslim states. The new security enforcement will be reportedly extended on a wider range of nations with the additional screening measures affecting all of the individuals traveling to the US from these countries.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — President Donald Trump is reviewing a report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which would place tailored restrictions on travel from countries that do not meet US safety standards, Counselor to the Secretary of Homeland Security Miles Taylor said in a press briefing on Friday.

"The Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke… has notified the president which countries do not adequately meet our standards and she has submitted to him recommendations for travel restrictions to protect the United States and to pressure those countries to take action to improve security," Taylor said.

A temporary "travel ban" on individuals from six majority-Muslim countries is set to expire on Sunday. Neither DHS officials nor the White House will comment on when a decision on the restrictions are expected from Trump, or on any contingency plans in place if a decision is not made before the temporary ban expires.

On Friday, US local media reported that DHS has marked 17 nations as potentially failing to comply with US security standards adding that the new safety policy could include additional screening with a profound check of person's background and social-media accounts as well.

The Trump's "Travel ban" has been one of the key legislation orders signed by the US president merely a week after moving into the Oval Office in January. Initially there were seven nations on the list failing to meet US security standards — Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen and Iraq. In March, Trump's administration made this list shorter by removing Iraq from the "banned states".