No evidence Linking Boakai’s Administration to Visa Restrictions

 

Claim:  “Boakai Bad Administrations links Liberians to visa denial.

 

Source: Acarous M. Gray, executive of Congress for Democratic Change (CDC). 

 

Verdict: Misleading and unproven, there is no evidence that Liberia's placement on potential visa restrictions is specifically due to President Boakai's  “bad” administrative management, as Gray claimed.

 

Full Text: Gray is a former representative of District 8 of Montserrado County, a post he served for two terms until he was voted out in the 2023 general and presidential elections. 

 

On March 15, 2025, Gray made a Facebook post claiming that Liberians risk being denied U.S. visas due to President Joseph N. Boakai's poor governance, disrespect for the rule of law, and mass allegations of corruption. 

 

"Liberians risk being prevented from obtaining U.S. visas due to Boakai's   bad  administrative management, deliberate disrespect for the rule of law, and mass corruption.”
 

 

Gray is one of those opposition figures specifically noted for spreading inaccurate information, especially on Facebook. 

 

Gray’s post generated 207 reactions, 345 comments, and 4 shares

 

A visa restriction is a rule that limits what an individual can do concerning entering or staying in a country

 

The visa restriction policy is according to Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which authorizes the Secretary of State to render inadmissible any alien whose entry into the United States “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”  

 

Verification: To authenticate this information, we searched various website links to the United States of America. 

 

Following President Trump's election in 2024 and inauguration in January 2025, Executive Order 14161 titled “Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists And Other National Security And Public Safety Threats” was issued to enhance the vetting process for visa applicants. 

 

This order mandates intensified security vetting for all foreigners seeking admission to the United States to detect potential national security threats. 

 

The key aspects of the order related to visa vetting include enhanced screening and vetting, a uniform baseline for vetting standards, and a potential travel ban.  

 

The ban categorized countries into three tiers: "red, orange, and yellow. And Liberia is one of 22 countries in the yellow category. Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, St. Kitt, St. Lucia, Sao Tome and Principe, Vanuatu, and Zimbabwe are given 60 days to address security and information-sharing concerns or risk being moved to a stricter category as other countries. 

“Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen entirely barred from entering the United States haven’t fallen in the "Red List.” While travel would be heavily restricted in Belarus, Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Turkmenistan due to their position (orange) on the list. This implies that citizens would face mandatory in-person interviews for visa applications.

Trump's decision dates to January 2017. During this period, Trump signed Executive Order 13780 titled "Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorists Entry Into the United States," which imposed travel restrictions on seven predominantly Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. 

The order was justified as a national security measure to prevent potential threats from entering the United States through enhanced vetting processes for immigrants and refugees from these countries, which the administration identified as presenting heightened terrorism risks.

After President Joe Biden's election in 2021, he revoked Trump's travel bans during his first term on grounds that it was a "stain on our national conscience" and "inconsistent with our long history of welcoming people of all faiths and no faith at all."

But the latest travel ban is broader than the restrictions imposed during Trump’s first term in 2017, according to The New York Times.

Conclusion: Gray's claim is misleading and unproven, as Liberia's placement on the Yellow List is a broader security policy affecting multiple countries, not a targeted response to President Boakai's administration, and the policy did not mention bad administrative management, deliberate disrespect for the rule of law, and mass corruption by the Boakai administration as reliance for the possible visa restriction.