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The Trump administration on Tuesday expanded its travel ban to include five additional countries and imposed new restrictions on travelers from more than a dozen others, widening a signature immigration policy as the White House continues to tighten U.S. entry standards.
The expansion comes after the arrest of an Afghan national accused of shooting two National Guard members near the White House over Thanksgiving weekend, an incident administration officials have cited as underscoring national security concerns tied to immigration vetting.
In June, President Donald Trump announced a sweeping ban barring citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States and imposing partial restrictions on visitors from seven others — a move that resurrected one of the most controversial policies of his first term.
On Tuesday, the administration said it would fully ban entry for citizens of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria, while also imposing full restrictions on individuals traveling with Palestinian Authority–issued travel documents.
An additional 15 countries — Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia and Zimbabwe — were added to a list facing partial travel restrictions.
Administration cites vetting concerns
In a proclamation announcing the changes, the White House said many of the affected countries have “widespread corruption, fraudulent or unreliable civil documents and criminal records” that make it difficult for U.S. officials to verify travelers’ identities and backgrounds.
The administration also cited high rates of visa overstays, refusals by some governments to accept deported citizens and what it described as a “general lack of stability and government control” in certain countries.
“The restrictions and limitations imposed by the Proclamation are necessary to prevent the entry of foreign nationals about whom the United States lacks sufficient information to assess the risks they pose,” the proclamation said, adding that the measures advance “foreign policy, national security, and counterterrorism objectives.”
The ban builds on a June proclamation that barred travelers from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, and imposed heightened scrutiny on visitors from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
Security incident shapes political backdrop
The administration’s announcement follows the arrest of an Afghan national charged in the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C. One of the victims later died. The suspect has pleaded not guilty to murder and assault charges.
While administration officials have not alleged a direct connection between the shooting and broader immigration policy, Trump allies have pointed to the case as evidence of what they describe as systemic failures in vetting foreign nationals — a claim disputed by critics and some national security experts.
Echoes of first-term battles
Trump’s original travel ban, issued shortly after he took office in 2017, triggered mass protests, legal challenges and confusion at airports nationwide. After several revisions, a narrower version of the policy was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.
Civil rights advocates and Democratic lawmakers have already condemned the new expansion as discriminatory and overly broad, arguing it targets countries with large Black and Muslim populations and does little to improve actual security.
The White House has rejected those claims, insisting the policy is based on country-level vetting standards rather than religion or race.
The expanded restrictions take effect immediately, according to the proclamation, though exemptions may apply for certain visa categories, lawful permanent residents and individuals deemed to be in the U.S. national interest.
