US President Donald Trump has expanded his travel ban and included several countries, including Palestine, on the list. The people of these countries are now barred from entering the United States.
The measures are intended to protect the US “from national security and public safety threats,” the White House said, citing a lack of adequate information to properly vet foreign nationals. The proclamation points to “insufficient information to assess the risks,” as well as “terrorist presence”, “criminal and extremist activity,” and chronic instability in certain regions that weaken screening and vetting systems.
Full List Of Countries Banned By The US
- Palestine
- Burkina Faso
- Mali
- Niger
- South Sudan
- Syria
- Sierra Leone
- Laos
These countries join a list of 12 others already subject to full restrictions since June 2025 -
- Afghanistan
- Burma (Myanmar)
- Chad
- Republic of the Congo
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Haiti
- Iran
- Libya
- Somalia
- Sudan
- Yemen
Laos and Sierra Leone, previously under partial restrictions, have now been moved into the full-suspension category.
Countries With Partial Travel Restrictions
Alongside the full bans, the administration imposed partial restrictions on nationals from 15 other countries. These measures primarily affect immigrant visas and nonimmigrant visas such as tourist (B-1/B-2), student (F), vocational (M), and exchange visitor (J) categories.
The countries facing partial restrictions are:
- Angola
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Benin
- Cote d'Ivoire
- Dominica
- Gabon
- The Gambia
- Malawi
- Mauritania
- Nigeria
- Senegal
- Tanzania
- Tonga
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
- Burundi
- Cuba
- Togo
- Venezuela
The proclamation continues partial restrictions on nationals from four of the seven original high-risk countries: Burundi, Cuba, Togo, and Venezuela. The US eased restrictions on Turkmenistan, lifting the ban on non-immigrant visas after the country made “significant progress” in identity management and information sharing. Immigrant visa restrictions remain in effect.
The White House cited high visa overstay rates, unreliable civil documentation systems, weak law enforcement data sharing, and, in some cases, citizenship-by-investment programmes that allegedly allow individuals to bypass identity checks.
This comes after a New York Times report detailed an alleged fraud scheme involving some Somalis in Minnesota that prosecutors say siphoned “more than $1 billion in taxpayers' money.”
