Biden reverses Trump’s Entry Ban on Nigeria, Others

United States President, Joe Biden, used his first day in office to issue some executive orders undoing some of former President Donald Trump’s policies on climate change and immigration implemented in 2017.

Among the 17 executive orders and presidential actions Biden signed on Wednesday were the order to end a travel ban from countries including Nigeria, Eritrea, Yemen, Sudan and 9 other countries.

He has described the travel ban as discriminatory and an affront to the country’s values. 

Trump had last February placed an immigrant visa ban on Nigeria, citing Nigeria’s lack of a robust database. The American Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary-Beth Leonard, stated at the time that Nigeria must improve on its data intelligence to ease the investigation of its citizens wishing to migrate to the US, if it wants the ban lifted.

The PUNCH reports that the Nigerian government subsequently set up a committee on Citizen Data Management and Harmonisation, to address the complaints of the US which led to the recent push for all Nigerians to register with the National Identity Management Commission and obtain a National Identity Number.

Meanwhile, the president has also sent a bill to Congress to overhaul the country’s immigration system, his team said earlier.