Trump expands travel ban to 39 countries after shooting of Guard members [View all]

Source: Washington Post

President Donald Trump on Tuesday added 20 countries to a list whose citizens face a full or partial travel ban on entering the United States, swelling the total to 39 as his administration seeks to further restrict legal immigration after an Afghan immigrant was charged in the shooting of two National Guard troops last month.

The White House made the announcement several weeks after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem said she had recommended that the president expand the list. The additional countries facing a full ban are Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria. They join 12 others, including Afghanistan, that were placed on the list in June, as well as Laos and Sierra Leone, whose citizens previously faced a partial ban and now face a complete ban on entry, the White House said.

The additional countries facing a partial ban are Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Ivory Coast, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The administration also said anyone traveling on a passport issued by the Palestinian Authority would be barred from entering the United States.

The White House said the move targeted countries that have “demonstrated, persistent, and severe deficiencies in screening, vetting, and information-sharing.”

The presidential proclamation also narrowed the number of automatic exceptions that were granted in Trump’s initial order in June, removing protections for adoptees, immediate family members of U.S. citizens and Afghan special immigrant visa holders — individuals who had worked with the U.S. government or military, including interpreters, during the U.S. war in Afghanistan.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/12/16/trump-travel-ban-expanded

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