U.S. President Donald Trump has expanded the United States’ travel ban, adding seven more countries to the list of nations whose citizens are fully barred from entering the country.
The White House announced on Tuesday that Trump signed a proclamation “expanding and strengthening entry restrictions on nationals from countries with demonstrated, persistent, and severe deficiencies in screening, vetting, and information-sharing to protect the Nation from national security and public safety threats.”
Under the new order, citizens of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, Syria, and individuals holding Palestinian Authority–issued travel documents are now subject to a full entry ban.
Laos and Sierra Leone, which had previously faced only partial restrictions, are also now under a complete ban. The White House said the expanded restrictions will take effect on January 1.
According to Reuters, the decision comes despite Trump’s earlier pledge to support Syria’s recovery following landmark talks in November with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al Qaeda commander who was until recently sanctioned by Washington as a foreign terrorist.
Trump had publicly backed Sharaa, whose rise followed the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad and a year of diplomatic outreach aimed at ending Syria’s international isolation.
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However, Trump’s stance hardened after the U.S. military reported that two U.S. Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed in Syria by a suspected Islamic State attacker who targeted a convoy of American and Syrian forces before being shot dead.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that the U.S. would respond with “very serious retaliation,” later describing the incident to reporters as a “terrible” attack.
In explaining Syria’s inclusion, the White House cited visa overstay rates and ongoing security concerns. “Syria is emerging from a protracted period of civil unrest and internal strife. While the country is working to address its security challenges in close coordination with the United States, Syria still lacks an adequate central authority for issuing passports or civil documents and does not have appropriate screening and vetting measures,” the statement said.
The new expansion builds on a proclamation Trump signed in June that imposed a full travel ban on citizens from 12 countries and partial restrictions on seven others, measures the administration said were necessary to protect against “foreign terrorists” and other security threats.
Those original bans remain in place and apply to both immigrants and non-immigrants, including tourists, students, and business travelers.
Trump has also added partial entry restrictions on 15 additional countries, including Nigeria. Nigeria has come under scrutiny from Trump, who in early November threatened military action over the treatment of Christians there.
Nigerian authorities have rejected claims of Christian persecution, saying they oversimplify a complex security situation and ignore efforts to protect religious freedom.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has intensified immigration enforcement, deploying federal agents to major U.S. cities and turning away asylum seekers at the U.S.–Mexico border.
The latest expansion of entry restrictions follows the fatal shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., last month.
Investigators say the suspect was an Afghan national who entered the U.S. in 2021 through a resettlement program that Trump administration officials argue lacked sufficient vetting.
Days after that shooting, Trump said he would “permanently pause” migration from all “Third World Countries,” though he did not specify which nations or define the term.
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Image Credit: euronews
