The New York Times revealed on Friday that the administration of US President Donald Trump is currently putting the finishing touches on a new ban on travel to the United States for citizens of certain countries that will be broader than the versions issued by Trump in his first term, according to officials familiar with the matter.

It is noteworthy that Trump's election campaign was launched in October 2015, and it arose from his call to ban Muslims from entering the United States and developed amid legal battles.

The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations, said a draft recommendation circulating within the executive branch proposes a “red” list of countries whose citizens Trump could bar from entering the United States.

The proposed red list is currently made up primarily of countries whose citizens were restricted under versions of President Trump’s previous travel ban, one official said. Last time, those countries (designated red) included Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.

The draft tentatively proposes adding Afghanistan to the group whose citizens would be barred from entering the United States, according to one official.

Shawn Van Diver, head of a nonprofit group that helps resettle Afghans who worked with U.S. forces during the war, said he learned from officials that Afghan citizens would be subject to a complete travel ban.

The group issued an emergency statement on Wednesday morning titled “Afghan Travel Ban Is Coming,” urging Afghans with valid visas who are currently outside the United States to return immediately. Later Wednesday, Reuters also reported that Afghanistan would be recommended a full travel ban.

The recommendations also include an “orange” group of countries whose access would be limited but not completely barred. For example, only certain types of visas might be issued — such as to relatively wealthy people traveling for business purposes, but not migrants or tourists — and the duration of visas could be shortened. Applicants would be required to undergo in-person interviews.

Countries in the third, or "yellow," category will be given 60 days to change some perceived deficiencies or be added to one of the other two lists, officials said.

These issues may include the United States not sharing information about incoming travelers, inadequate security practices for issuing passports, or selling citizenship to people from banned countries as a way to circumvent restrictions.

It is not clear whether people with existing visas will be exempt from the ban, or whether those visas will be revoked. Many Afghans have been approved for resettlement in the United States as refugees or under special visas granted to people who helped the United States during the war. It is also not clear whether green card holders, who have been approved for permanent residency, will be affected.

In one of several executive orders he issued on Inauguration Day, January 20, Trump directed the State Department to begin identifying countries “for which screening and verification information is deficient to the extent that it warrants a partial or full suspension of admissions of nationals from those countries.”

Trump gave the State Department 60 days to complete a report to the White House with such a list — meaning it is due in about two weeks. He directed the Justice Department, the Homeland Security Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to work with the State Department on the project.

The State Department spokeswoman's office said in a statement that it was following Trump's executive order and was "committed to protecting our nation and its citizens by maintaining the highest standards of national security and public safety throughout our visa process," but also declined to comment specifically on internal deliberations.

The State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs has been tasked with taking the lead in coming up with an initial draft, according to people familiar with the matter, but the lists for each of the three categories are still in flux.

In addition to security professionals in other departments and intelligence agencies, regional bureaus at the State Department and U.S. embassies around the world are reviewing the draft. They are providing feedback on whether the shortcomings identified in particular countries are accurate or whether there is a political argument—such as not risking disruption to cooperation on other priorities—for reconsidering some of them.

President Trump’s policy of categorically banning entry from certain countries dates back to his 2015 campaign call for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what’s going on.” After taking office in January 2017, Mr. Trump issued what became the first of a series of repeated bans. It initially focused on a handful of Muslim-majority countries but later included other low-income, non-white countries, including in Africa.

The first travel ban caused chaos, in part because Mr. Trump issued it without warning. Some people learned they were being denied entry only after they arrived in the United States. Major protests were held at airports against the new administration.