Trump widens travel ban, adds 5 more countries to original list of 12 countries

WASHINGTON, DC:US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) expanded a travel ban by adding five more countries and imposing limits on others.

The move came as the Trump administration continues to tighten US entry requirements and immigration standards, Fox News reported.

AMERICA FIRST SECURITY

President Donald J. Trump just signed a new Proclamation, STRENGTHENING our borders & national security with data-driven restrictions on high-risk countries with severe deficiencies in screening & vetting. pic.twitter.com/DZmqpkerKb

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 16, 2025

This administration is slamming the door shut on the foreign invaders who have undermined our national security.

DHS, under the leadership of @POTUS Trump and @Sec_Noem, will relentlessly enforce our nation’s immigration laws. https://t.co/AQ3OnwYWCG

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) December 16, 2025

“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, garner cooperation from foreign governments, enforce our immigration laws, and advance other important foreign policy, national security, and counterterrorism objectives,” a statement by the White House says.

Through his actions on Tuesday, citizens from five countries – Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria, as well as individuals holding Palestinian-Authority-issued travel documents – will face a ban on travel to the United States, the White House said. In addition, existing partial bans on Laos and Sierra Leone were expanded into full suspensions of entry.

Another 15 countries – Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia and Zimbabwe – will face partial restrictions.

The proclamation also “narrows broad family-based immigrant visa carve-outs that carry demonstrated fraud risks, while preserving case-by-case waivers,” the White House said.

In its announcement, the Trump administration said many of the countries on the travel ban suffer from “widespread corruption, fraudulent or unreliable civil documents and criminal records, and nonexistent birth-registration systems,” which makes it difficult to perform accurate vetting. Others refuse to share law-enforcement data, while others permit “Citizenship-by-Investment schemes that conceal identity and bypass vetting requirements and travel restrictions,” as per Fox News.

In June, Trump announced a US entry ban on citizens of 12 countries – Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen – while also tightening restrictions on others: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

Tuesday’s decision follows the arrest of an Afghan national suspected of shooting two National Guard soldiers in Washington DC over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Fox News reported.

At the time of the killing, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Rahmanullah Lakanwal was one of the many unvetted Afghans who were mass paroled into the US under Operation Allies Welcome under the Biden administration, as per Fox News.

Lakanwal is accused of shooting US Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, who later died, and US Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, who is recovering, as per Fox News. (ANI)