Chad amongst countries responding to Trump’s immigration ban

Chad’s President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno has responded to US President Trump’s ban on Chad citizens visiting the US with his own reciprocal suspension on visas for US citizens, according to the Associated Press.

During Trump’s first term as President, in January of 2017, he introduced a similar immigration ban. This latest announcement is a direct continuation of this policy, announced on June 4th and coming into effect as soon as June 9th.

The new policy coming into effect on June 9th targets 19 countries in total- Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia and Sudan are the African countries whose citizens are banned from entering the United States, and other countries under this ban include Afghanistan, Myanmar, Haiti, Iran and Yemen. There are also travel restrictions being placed on Burundi, Sierra Leone, Togo, Cuba, Laos, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

The nations affected have been labelled by the Trump administration as suffering from systemic flaws in identity verification processes, and Chad’s inclusion was due to a high rate of visa overstays and deficient screening and vetting, according to the Associated Press.

Chad’s President wrote in a Facebook post on June 5th that he is directing his government to suspend visas to U.S. citizens “in accordance with the principles of reciprocity,” he adds that “Chad has no planes to offer, no billions of dollars to give but Chad has his dignity and pride,” in reference to the gift of a $400 million private plane that Trump’s administration has accepted from Qatar.

Other African countries have responded to the US’s new immigration policy, and the reactions have been varied and less direct than Chad’s. 

A government spokesperson from the Republic of Congo, Thierry Moungalla, stated that they believed the country was targeted because of a “misunderstanding” over an armed attack in the U.S. with the perpetrators “mistaken” to be from the Republic of Congo.

Moungalla makes it clear that the Congo negotiating with the US is on the table. “So we think that this is a misunderstanding and I believe that in the coming hours, the competent diplomatic services of the government will contact the American authorities here,” he said in the capital of Brazzaville.

Sierra Leone’s Information Minister Chernor Bah said the country is committed to addressing the concerns that prompted the ban. “We will work with U.S. authorities to ensure progress,” he added.

Associated Press/Maghrebi