On Friday, the administration of President Donald Trump imposed new restrictions on the entry of citizens of six countries into the United States, led by Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, in the context of tightening its anti-immigration measures.
Administration officials said the restrictions include nationals of Nigeria, Sudan, Eritrea, Tanzania, Kyrgyzstan and Burma.
Observers believe that this step could affect thousands of immigrants, and could renew the debate on whether this policy represents discrimination against Muslims.
Chad Wolf, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, said in a telephone conversation with reporters today that the United States will stop issuing visas that could lead to permanent residence of nationals of Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar and Nigeria.
Wolf added that the target immigrant visas are different from non-immigrant visas that are issued to visitors and that will not be covered by the ban.
He added that the United States would also stop issuing so-called "diversity visas" to nationals of Sudan and Tanzania, which are granted by lottery to applicants from countries with low immigration rates to the United States, and Trump had previously criticized this program.
The new move comes three years after Trump imposed a travel ban from a number of Muslim-majority countries, which sparked outrage at the time.