The administration gave the nations 60 days to fix concerns, according to a State Department cable. The president already imposed a full or partial ban on citizens of 19 countries.
The Trump administration is considering expanding President Trump’s new travel ban to as many as 36 additional countries if they do not address various security or diplomatic concerns within two months, according to a June 14 cable reviewed by The New York Times.
Most of the countries are in Africa, while others are in the Caribbean, the Pacific region and Central Asia.
This month, Mr. Trump imposed a full ban on entry to the United States on citizens of 12 countries and a partial ban on seven more, reviving a form of a much disputed policy from his first term.
The cable says that in addition to the 19 countries, the State Department had identified 36 more that must improve on certain benchmarks within 60 days. It set a deadline of 8 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday for the affected governments to provide remediation plans.
The countries in question “must take immediate action to mitigate ongoing vetting and screening concerns, develop corrective action plans to remediate deficiencies and evaluate progress,” the cable said.
The State Department has said it was “committed to protecting our nation and its citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process,” but it has declined to comment more specifically on internal deliberations.
