Trump administration removes Chad from travel ban list

The Trump administration said Chad will no longer be on a travel ban list because the African nation has met baseline requirements established by the United States to vet potential entrants.

Chad "has addressed previous deficiencies" and "made strides" in meeting requirements outlined in a September presidential proclamation, the Department of Homeland Security said April 10.

Travel restrictions are scheduled to be lifted April 13 for Chad nationals seeking to come to the United States as immigrants and nonimmigrants (on business, tourist, or business/tourist visas).

"By lifting travel restrictions on nationals of Chad, the United States is demonstrating that the criteria set forth in Proclamation 9645 can and do work to enhance the security of the United States," said White House press secretary Sarah Sanders in an April 10 statement.

Administration officials did not provide updates on other travel restrictions on nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, North Korea and Venezuela.

The Trump administration has said countries land on the travel ban list when the foreign governments do not cooperate in verifying if its citizens pose national or public safety threats and if the countries don't adequately share public safety and terrorism-related information.

Chad's September addition to Trump's third travel ban mystified Chadians and analysts since the United States regards it as a partner in the fight against terrorism.

Chad's government in a September statement expressed "incomprehension in the face of the official reasons behind this decision."

The Associated Press in October reported that the reason behind the listing was that Chad lacked passport paper. Countries had been given 50 days to prove they met the United States' baseline requirements and to provide samples of its passports, but at the time Chad didn't have the paper and couldn't comply, the Associated Press reported. The Department of Homeland Security back then told the Associated Press that while it lacked a recent sample from Chad of its passports, there were other problems, too.

The Trump administration has said that countries can be removed from the travel ban list as they comply with information. Likewise, other nations can be added to the list if they fall short of the requirements.

We continue to rate Trump's promise to suspend immigration from terror-prone places as In the Works.