The Trump administration announced new restrictions on immigrants from Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania on Friday that will go into effect this month.
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The new restrictions aren’t as severe as those currently in place for other countries covered by the travel ban: They will still allow people from the newly listed countries to travel to the US temporarily.
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Starting February 22, immigrants from Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Eritrea, and Nigeria will no longer be able to obtain visas allowing them to immigrate to the US permanently.
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But they will be able to come to the US on temporary visas, such as those for foreign workers, tourists, and students.
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Citizens of those countries, as well as Sudan and Tanzania, have also been banned from participating in the diversity visa lottery under which 55,000 citizens of countries with low levels of immigration can come to the US annually.
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The expansion of the ban will likely hit Nigeria, the largest African country by population, the hardest. In 2018, the US granted Nigerians almost 14,000 green cards.
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Citizens from other countries on the list, by comparison, were granted a combined total of fewer than 6,000 green cards.