Johannesburg — On most mornings, dozens of individuals line up and look forward to appointments exterior the U.S. Consulate in Johannesburg, South Africa, many looking for functions for visas to journey to the U.S. It could possibly take as much as 5 – 6 months simply to get one of many appointments.
On Thursday, a cold winter morning in South Africa, CBS Information discovered hopeful vacationers within the line frightened about what may occur in the event that they do make it to an arrival gate at a U.S. airport, or throughout their visits.
President Trump’s announcement on Wednesday of a looming journey ban on all residents from 12 nations in Africa and the Center East didn’t even embrace South Africa, regardless of the American chief’s tetchy relations with the nation. However the nervousness brought on by the return of blanket journey restrictions — one thing Mr. Trump did throughout his first time period, too — was nearly palpable in Johannesburg.
One particular person within the line mentioned they had been planning to journey for a piece convention, however they questioned whether or not it was a good suggestion.
One other, tentatively planning to journey for non-essential causes, frightened that, with the final identify Assad, it is perhaps higher to skip the deliberate journey totally.
“Do I run the risk of being rounded up and sent to another country, or even jail?” they requested. “The risk is simply too high.”
Nobody within the line would give CBS Information their full identify — out of worry, most mentioned, of any public remark presumably bringing a denial of their visa request.
What African nations are going through Trump’s journey ban, and why?
Nationals of seven African nations are going through a ban on journey to the U.S. from June 9, per Mr. Trump’s announcement: Chad, Somalia, Sudan, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea and Libya.
Three of these nations — Sudan, Somalia and Libya — had been among the many nations put below a journey ban throughout Mr. Trump’s first time period in January 2017, although the restrictions on Sudan had been later dropped, and people towards Somalia and Libya had been eased.
Most of the 12 nations on the brand new listing have been wracked by repressive regimes and stricken by battle.
“We don’t want them,” President Trump mentioned as he introduced the ban on Wednesday, which he mentioned was wanted “to protect Americans from dangerous actors.”
He cited dangers starting from terrorism to folks overstaying their visas, and careworn that the U.S. “cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen those who seek to enter.”
Somalia was cited by the president as being a “terrorist safe haven,” whereas Libya, he mentioned, had a “historical terrorist presence.”
“The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas,” Mr. Trump mentioned.
Critics famous that the person charged in that assault, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, is an Egyptian nationwide, and Egypt will not be included on the journey ban listing introduced by Mr. Trump on Wednesday.
Somalia instantly responded to the American chief’s proclamation, with the nation’s Ambassador to the U.S., Dahir Hassan Abdi, saying in a press release that, “Somalia values its longstanding relationship with the United States and stands ready to engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised.”
Mr. Trump mentioned in his remarks that “the United States must be vigilant during the visa-issuance process.”
The Africa Union issued a press release Thursday asking the U.S. to undertake a extra “consultative approach” with the nations named by Mr. Trump, including that it was involved in regards to the “potential negative impact on people-to-people ties, educational exchange, commercial engagement, and the broader diplomatic relations that have been carefully nurtured over decades.”
It has lengthy been tough and laborious for folks from many African nations to get a visa to journey to the U.S.
Mr. Trump’s announcement got here, nevertheless, simply days after a second group of South African Afrikaner “refugees” left on business flights certain for the U.S. below a program introduced by the White Home in February, which fast-tracks resettlement of the white South Africans even because the administration works to droop different refugee packages.
President Trump has repeated false claims {that a} white genocide going down in South Africa, claiming Afrikaner farmers are the victims of systemic, racially motivated violence.
In January, South Africa adopted a land expropriation invoice that enables the state to take possession of land to deal with racial disparities in possession. To this point, no land has been expropriated with out compensation in South Africa, regardless of claims by right-wing activists within the nation — and a few outstanding supporters exterior South Africa, together with Elon Musk — on the contrary.
Quickly after the invoice was handed, in a briefing with journalists, Mr. Trump accused the federal government of South Africa of “doing some terrible, horrible things,” and he mentioned in a social media submit that he can be, “cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!”
As relations between the 2 nations deteriorated, President Cyril Ramaphosa traveled to Washington late final month with a raft of recent measures to attempt to mend ties. However President Trump ambushed him within the Oval Workplace, with information cameras rolling, with a video he claimed as proof of the so-called white genocide.
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The video included clips of controversial South African opposition determine Julius Malema singing a track that turned standard throughout the anti-apartheid wrestle, known as “Kill the Boer,” which implies Afrikaner.
Ramaphosa watched the video after which identified to Mr. Trump that the views voiced in it weren’t authorities coverage, earlier than conceding that South Africa undeniably has a violent crime drawback — however that solely a small variety of white farmers had been focused.
Ramaphosa’s two hour assembly with President Trump was largely seen as productive from the South African standpoint. Ramaphosa had hoped to go away the White Home with an assurance from Mr. Trump that he would attend the G20 summit in South Africa in November. He didn’t get that, however the U.S. chief mentioned he was contemplating it.
The U.S. Embassy in South Africa later issued a assertion updating administration’s coverage, saying that to qualify for U.S. resettlement, candidates “must be of Afrikaner ethnicity or a member of a racial minority in South Africa and must be able to articulate a past experience of persecution or fear of persecution.”
Throughout Africa, there was already a way of confusion and disappointment over the relentless support and commerce cuts introduced by the Trump administration, and the journey bans have solely exacerbated that feeling.
“Maybe Americans just don’t like us anymore,” advised one girl within the line exterior the U.S. Consulate on Thursday.
