The Trump administration is said to be considering a bold expansion of its travel ban by looking at imposing a possible entry ban on citizens from 36 more countries, based on an internal State Department cable reviewed by Reuters.
This move follows just a few weeks after President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring nationals of 12 countries from entering the US, citing foreign terrorism threats to national security. The new move is one of a series of broader immigration clampdowns initiated during Trump’s second term, which has seen deportations of suspected Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador and more stringent visa policies targeting foreign students.
The diplomatic cable, which was signed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, listed 36 countries identified as “countries of concern.” It mentioned concerns ranging from not having trusted identity documents and insecure passports to refusal to cooperate in the repatriation of nationals ordered removed from the US. Also listed were nations for overstaying visas or citizens engaging in terrorism or anti-American activity.
The cable threatens the countries have 60 days to achieve certain security standards or face complete or partial travel bans. Some of the countries likely to be affected include Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Syria, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
The State Department stressed its continuous commitment to maintaining national security via the visa process. “We are continually reviewing policies to protect Americans and enforce US law,” said a department official, refusing to comment on internal debates.
The widened list would greatly extend the current prohibition, which already covers countries like Iran, Somalia, and Yemen. Seven more countries are also currently subject to partial travel bans, including Cuba, Venezuela, and Laos.
The action comes after Trump’s contentious first-term travel ban against numerous Muslim-majority nations, a policy ultimately sustained by the US Supreme Court in 2018.
