President Trump excused Chad from a list of countries whose citizens are temporarily banned from getting visas to visit the U.S., but kept six other nations on his controversial travel ban.
Chad, a poor African country south of Libya, is about half Muslim and half Christian, according to the CIA World Factbook. It was not included in an initial seven-nation travel ban that Trump announced in January 2017.
The White House said in a statement that the Department of Homeland Security determined that Chad improved “its identity-management and information sharing practices sufficiently to meet the baseline security standard” of the U.S.
“Chad nationals will therefore again be able to receive visas for travel to the United States,” the White House said.
“Today’s decision is based on DHS’s required 180-day review of entry restrictions imposed by Proclamation 9645 on nationals of eight countries,” the White House said, referring to the third version of the travel ban. “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.”
Trump’s travel bans were subject to a nearly yearlong legal roller coaster last year, with some federal judges stalling implementation, citing Trump’s campaign-trail pledge to temporarily ban Muslim visitors.
The Supreme Court allowed the third version of Trump’s travel ban to take effect in December. The third version included for the first time North Korea, Chad, and a class of Venezuelan officials.
Two predominately Muslim countries previously were excused from the bans: Iraq in March 2017, when Trump issued the second version of his travel ban, and Sudan, which dropped off the list in September, reportedly after lobbying by the United Arab Emirates.
Currently, there’s a blanket ban on four Muslim-majority nations affected by civil wars — Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen — and on traditional U.S. adversaries North Korea and Iran.
