(Adds countries on draft proposal, background)
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The United States is
moving to add more countries to its travel ban list, U.S.
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday without giving details
but saying the changes would be announced soon.
A source familiar with the draft proposal said the tentative
list of nations included Belarus, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar,
Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania.
The move could dampen relations between the United States
and the countries affected under the expanded ban.
Nigeria, for example, Africa's largest economy and most
populous country, is a U.S. anti-terrorism partner and has a
large diaspora residing in the United States.
A senior Trump administration official said that countries
that failed to comply with security requirements, including
biometrics, information-sharing and counter-terrorism measures,
faced the risk of limitations on U.S. immigration.
Officials from the White House, Department of Homeland
Security and the State Department have declined to comment on
the planned expansion of the travel ban.
Under the current version of the ban, citizens of Iran,
Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, as well as some
Venezuelan officials and their relatives are blocked from
obtaining a large range of U.S. immigrant and non-immigrant
visas.
Chad was previously covered under the ban but was removed in
April 2018.
Citizens of the countries can apply for waivers to the ban,
but they are exceedingly rare.