US to remove Chad from travel ban list

President Trump moved on Tuesday to lift a travel ban on citizens of Chad, citing improvements in the country’s identity-management and information sharing practices, the White House said.

Chad was among eight countries whose nationals were barred entry to the U.S. under the most recent iteration of Trump’s controversial travel ban. The ban also targeted Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela and North Korea.

The travel ban only allowed for narrow exemptions and waivers.

{mosads}

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders touted the decision to once again issue visas to Chadian nationals as a sign that the president’s travel ban had effectively encouraged the country to strengthen security protocols.

“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,” she said.

The initial inclusion of Chad on the list of countries affected by the travel ban baffled many security experts, who pointed to the country’s status as a key counterterrorism ally of the U.S.

The Trump administration, however, argued that shortcomings in Chad’s identity-management and information sharing practices could pose threats to U.S. national security by allowing potentially dangerous individuals to enter the country.