Trump's new travel ban includes Nigeria, leaves Nigerians-Americans disappointed
Trump administration’s list of six countries facing travel and visa restrictions from February 21 includes Nigeria which left Nigerian-Americans disappointed.
- World News
- 2 min read
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According to Trumps administration’s list of six countries facing travel and visa restrictions from February 21 will include Nigeria. Nigerian-Americans have reacted with shock, disbelief and dismay after knowing the adminitsration's decision. Nigeria is one of Africa's most populous countries and the source of the largest African diaspora in the US.
Nigerian-Americans shocked
The Trump administration has cited safety and security as one of the reasons why Nigeria is on the list of banned countries. But some see racism and others have seen it as dirty politics at work. In 2018, the US accepted 7,900 immigrants from Nigeria.
The state of Maryland contains the second-largest community of Nigerian Americans, after Texas. For the thousands of Nigerians in the US, the ban feels personal and like betrayal, claim reports.
According to Olusegun Adeyina, who is the former president of the Nigerian-American Public Affairs Committee in Georgia, called the ban as 'un-American'. He believes that the country needs to rethink its strategy in order to be able to be inclusive of all people.
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Pres. Trump's new Travel Ban which takes effect on Feb. 22nd says the entry into the US of immigrants (green card) from Nigeria as well as Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan & Eritrea is now suspended-however, this does not apply to non-immigrants. The justification is "national security."
— Neil A. Weinrib & Assoc. (@neilweinrib) February 10, 2020
Recently in Nigeria, Boko Haram jihadists killed at least 30 people and abducted women and children in the Borno state. According to reports, the extremist group reportedly stormed the area with heavy weapons and abducted women and children after killing many people, said government spokesperson Ahmad Abdurrahman Bundi.
Bundi, in a statement, said that the attackers killed at least 30 people and torched the vehicles present in the area. According to media reports, most of the victims were travellers who stopped at a place which was around 25 kilometres west of Maiduguri, active region for fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Reports suggest that many of the drivers sleeping in the vehicles were burnt alive by the jihadists.