Trump Expands Travel Ban to 15 Additional Countries in Major Security Crackdown

President Donald Trump significantly expanded his administration’s travel restrictions on Tuesday, signing a new Proclamation that places partial entry limitations on 15 additional countries and full bans on five others. The move, announced by the White House on December 16, 2025, represents a major escalation in U.S. border enforcement, bringing the total number of nations facing travel hurdles to over 30.
The latest Executive Order builds upon the initial restrictions reinstated in June 2025. According to the White House Fact Sheet, the expansion is necessary due to “demonstrated, persistent, and severe deficiencies” in the screening and information-sharing capabilities of the targeted nations. Administration officials cited widespread corruption, unreliable civil documents, and an inability to adequately vet citizens as primary drivers for the decision. The crackdown also follows the recent shooting of two National Guard troops by an Afghan national, an incident the administration has leveraged to argue for tighter vetting of foreign nationals.
The Proclamation categorizes the new restrictions into two tiers. Five countries have been added to the list of “full restrictions,” effectively barring their citizens from entering the United States. These nations are Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria. Additionally, the order explicitly imposes full restrictions on individuals holding travel documents issued by the Palestinian Authority.
The second tier involves “partial restrictions,” which typically target specific visa classes such as business (B-1), tourist (B-2), or student visas, while often allowing exceptions for government officials or other specific categories. The 15 countries added to this list are Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the expansion, stating that the United States cannot afford to admit individuals from “Third-World countries that cannot vet their own citizens.” She emphasized that the goal is to compel these nations to improve their security protocols and data-sharing agreements with U.S. intelligence agencies. “If they don’t have a stable government or reliable records, we cannot risk American lives,” Noem asserted.
The inclusion of several Caribbean and African nations has drawn immediate criticism from international diplomats and immigration advocacy groups, who argue the policy disproportionately targets developing nations and disrupts family reunification. Multinationals operating in these regions are also scrambling to assess the impact on their workforce mobility, as the suspension of business visas could sever key economic links.
The Proclamation does include standard exemptions for lawful permanent residents (green card holders), diplomats, and individuals whose entry is deemed in the U.S. national interest. However, for millions of potential travelers from the listed nations, the door to the United States has effectively slammed shut, marking a return to the hardline immigration policies that defined Trump’s first term, now implemented with even broader scope.