Trump imposes full travel bans on seven more countries

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP/RSS) : US President Donald Trump has expanded a travel ban by barring people from seven more countries including Syria, as well as Palestinian Authority passport holders, from entering the United States.

The latest move, on Tuesday, brings to nearly 40 the number of countries whose citizens face restrictions in coming to the United States solely by virtue of nationality, with Trump also tightening rules for routine travel from Western nations.

It comes as Trump, who has long made hostility to immigration a signature issue, orders mass deportations and takes an increasingly strident tone against non-white new Americans. The White House in a proclamation said it was banning foreigners who "intend to threaten" Americans.

Trump also wants to prevent foreigners in the United States who would "undermine or destabilize its culture, government, institutions or founding principles," the proclamation said. Syrians were banned days after two US troops and a civilian were killed in the war-torn country, which Trump has moved to rehabilitate internationally since the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. Syrian authorities said the perpetrator was a member of the security forces who was due to be dismissed for "extremist Islamist ideas."

The Trump administration had already informally barred travel for Palestinian Authority passport holders as it acts in solidarity with Israel against the recognition of a Palestinian state by other leading Western countries including France and Britain.