Fewer than 60,000 visas revoked in Trump travel ban: Official
WASHINGTON: Fewer than 60,000 visas were provisionally revoked to comply with US President Donald Trump's travel ban affecting seven Muslim-majority countries, the State Department said on Friday.
The immigration executive order signed by Trump a week ago temporarily halted the US refugee program and imposed a 90-day suspension on people traveling from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Trump said the measures would help protect Americans from terrorist attacks.
"Fewer than 60,000 individuals' visas were provisionally revoked to comply with the executive order," said William Cocks, a spokesman for consular affairs at the State Department.
Earlier news reports, citing a government attorney at a federal court hearing, put the figure at more than 100,000 visas.
Under President Barack Obama, Trump's predecessor, the United States added those seven countries as "countries of concern" under its visa waiver program, effectively toughening US visa procedures for individuals who visited those places during the past five years.
Trump's executive order was at least in part informed by those restrictions. The new president, who took office on Jan. 20, went further by temporarily barring passport holders from those seven countries.
Under Trump's order, people from the seven countries who hold dual citizenship would be allowed to enter the United States on the passport of a non-restricted nation.
The New America think thank says the largest majority of "jihadist terrorists" in the United States "have been American citizens or legal residents." It added none of the deadly attackers since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks emigrated or came from a family that emigrated from one of these countries.
Foreigners on the visa waiver program killed no Americans in terrorist attacks in over 40 years, according to the CATO Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington.
The immigration executive order signed by Trump a week ago temporarily halted the US refugee program and imposed a 90-day suspension on people traveling from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Trump said the measures would help protect Americans from terrorist attacks.
"Fewer than 60,000 individuals' visas were provisionally revoked to comply with the executive order," said William Cocks, a spokesman for consular affairs at the State Department.
Earlier news reports, citing a government attorney at a federal court hearing, put the figure at more than 100,000 visas.
Under President Barack Obama, Trump's predecessor, the United States added those seven countries as "countries of concern" under its visa waiver program, effectively toughening US visa procedures for individuals who visited those places during the past five years.
Trump's executive order was at least in part informed by those restrictions. The new president, who took office on Jan. 20, went further by temporarily barring passport holders from those seven countries.
Under Trump's order, people from the seven countries who hold dual citizenship would be allowed to enter the United States on the passport of a non-restricted nation.
The New America think thank says the largest majority of "jihadist terrorists" in the United States "have been American citizens or legal residents." It added none of the deadly attackers since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks emigrated or came from a family that emigrated from one of these countries.
Foreigners on the visa waiver program killed no Americans in terrorist attacks in over 40 years, according to the CATO Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington.
