President Donald Trump has expanded the US travel ban, barring citizens of five additional countries and people travelling with documents issued by the Palestinian Authority from entering the US.
The White House said the sanctions were intended to “protect the security of the United States” and would go into effect on January 1.
People from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria, along with holders of Palestinian Authority passports, will face a full-entry ban.
The administration also moved to Laos and Sierra Leone, which were previously subject to partial sanctions and a full ban list and imposed a partial ban on 15 other countries, including Nigeria, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
Trump has tightened immigration controls.
Trump, who has tightened immigration controls since returning to the White House in January, said the extended travel ban was necessary because of what his administration described as failures in screening and testing systems abroad.
Officials cited high visa overstay rates, unreliable citizenship records, corruption, terrorist activity, and lack of cooperation in accepting deported citizens.
The announcement followed the arrest of an Afghan national suspected of shooting two National Guard soldiers over the Thanksgiving weekend, an incident the White House said highlighted its security concerns.
This is the third time Trump has imposed a travel ban.
During his first term, he introduced a similar order in 2017, which led to protests and legal challenges at home and abroad. The US Supreme Court later upheld this policy.
The White House said the sanctions would remain in place until the affected countries demonstrated “credible improvements” in identity management, information sharing, and cooperation with US immigration authorities.
A number of exceptions apply, and the ban will not affect lawful permanent residents, multiple existing visa holders, or diplomats or athletes travelling for major sporting events. Officials said case-by-case exemptions will also be available where travel is considered in the national interest.
Countries with a complete ban:
- afghanistan
- Burkina Faso
- Burma
- piece of paper
- equatorial guinea
- eritrea
- haiti
- iran
- laos
- Libya
- gardener
- niger
- republic of congo
- Sierra Leone
- somalia
- South Sudan
- Sudan
- Syria
- yemen
- Persons traveling on travel documents issued or endorsed by the Palestinian Authority may also be subject to a blanket ban on entry
Partial Restrictions:
- Angola
- Antigua and Barbuda
- benign
- burundi
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Cuba
- Dominica
- gabon
- Gambia
- malawi
- mauritania
- Nigeria
- senegal
- tanzania
- To go
- Tonga
- Venezuela
- zambia
- zimbabwe
Special case:
- Turkmenistan (restriction continues for immigrants but lifted for non-immigrant visas)
