Trump Expands U.S. Travel Ban List to 39 Countries

The Trump administration is expanding its list of travel bans and restrictions to cover a total of 39 countries and the Palestinian Authority, as of January 1. The new countries set to face full bans are Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, Syria, as well as holders of Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents. Meanwhile, Laos and Sierra Leone have been downgraded from facing partial restrictions to now also being subject to full bans. A further 15 countries, predominantly in Africa, face new partial travel restrictions.

Trump first introduced a set of travel bans on eight countries during 2017, a proclamation which came to be known as the “Muslim ban”, as it included six Muslim-majority nations. The eight were Somalia, Yemen, Syria, Libya and Iran, as well as North Korea, Chad and Venezuela. Although Joe Biden reversed the ban in 2021, it would not be for long, as Trump reinstated the restrictions again this year with an expanded version of the list. As of June, full bans were announced on Afghanistan, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, the Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, in addition to partial restrictions on Burundi, Cuba, Togo and Venezuela. According to The White House, these will all remain in place.

The bans come amid a wider crackdown on immigration in the United States, which now includes legal forms of immigration. It also follows closely after the arrest of an Afghan national suspected of shooting two National Guard troops over the Thanksgiving weekend, which the administration has cited when talking about security concerns. Experts warn of the dangers of conflating the two separate subjects of immigration and security, with statistics repeatedly showing that rates of crime and incarceration are higher among native-born Americans, while rights groups state that the banned populations have a right to the asylum process under international law.

The Trump administration has said that exceptions to the ban will apply, including for lawful permanent residents, many existing visa holders and those under certain visa categories, such as diplomats or athletes traveling for major sporting events. Waivers may also apply to those where travel is considered to be in the U.S. national interest.