Trump ‘to replace’ almost-expired travel ban with new restrictions

The US is set to issue a targeted travel restriction to replace an earlier controversial travel ban aimed at visitors from six Muslim-majority nations.

The US department of homeland security is recommending country-by-country restrictions for about eight or nine nations that have not met standards on counter-terrorism efforts and passports, US officials said.

Officials had originally expressed concern about 17 nations, but many of those subsequently addressed the concerns and were not included in the proposal.

Wall Street Journal reports that roughly half of those countries, upon learning they could be targeted, implemented changes that satisfied the US’s demands.

It, however, added that it remains unclear which countries would be affected by the new restrictions.

Unlike the current travel ban, which limited travel to the US from six majority-Muslim countries for 90 days and blocked the admission of refugees for 120 days, the new travel restrictions would not include a time limit.

Instead, the countries would face tailored sanctions commensurate with their deficiencies, and those countries could see the sanctions added or removed as situations change.

Trump’s travel ban faced a series of legal challenges that are to be heard by the supreme court in October.

However, the court allowed a version of the ban to go into effect while the case proceeds through the legal system.

The ban was crafted to expire 90 days after implementation, which falls on Sunday.

The travel ban was first announced in January, days after Trump took office.

The US President revised it in March to address legal concerns in an effort to temporarily bar people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the US.

Trump has vocally defended his position, which opponents argued was discriminatory against Muslims. The administration argued it wanted time to review visa procedures for the countries.