Pakistan could be included in immigration ban list in future, says White House

January 30, 2017 08:01

There is a possibility in the future of including Pakistan in the list of countries from where immigration has been banned, a top White House official indicated today, acknowledging for the first time that Pakistan was under consideration to be put in that category.

"The reason we chose those seven countries was, those were the seven countries that both the Congress and the Obama administration identified as being the seven countries that were most identifiable with dangerous terrorism taking place in their country," White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, told CBS News.

Trump has issued a controversial executive order banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries -- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Somalia.

"Now, you can point to other countries that have similar problems, like Pakistan and others. Perhaps we need to take it further. But for now, immediate steps, pulling the Band-Aid off, is to do further vetting for people travelling in and out of those countries," Priebus said.

This is for the first time that the Trump administration has publicly acknowledged about considering putting Pakistan into that list.

Currently as per the executive order, visitors from countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan are subject to extreme vetting.

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