US plans travel ban to 30 countries as Trump admin targets migration

The Trump administration is preparing a broader travel-ban list after the recent Washington shooting, adding to months of rapid shifts in US immigration rules and visa restrictions

The Trump administration is preparing to widen its travel ban to cover about 30 countries, a move positioned as a tougher response to migration after last week’s shooting of two National Guard members in Washington.

 

A list of the additional countries is expected shortly, according to a US Department of Homeland Security official cited by Bloomberg. The administration already blocks travellers from 12 countries and has partial restrictions on seven others.

 

What has triggered the latest push?

  The shift follows the attack in Washington that killed one Guard member and left another in critical condition. Authorities have identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an Afghan national who had worked with US forces and the CIA in Afghanistan before entering the United States in 2021. 

 

Trump and his allies have pointed to the case, accusing the previous administration of allowing Lakanwal into the country. In the aftermath of the shooting, Trump outlined a series of steps he wants to take, including halting admissions from certain developing nations, cancelling citizenship for some naturalised migrants and withdrawing federal benefits from non-citizens.

 

Which countries are already banned, check full list?

  The current full bans apply to travellers from:

• Afghanistan

• Chad

• Republic of Congo

• Equatorial Guinea

• Eritrea

• Haiti

• Iran

• Libya

• Myanmar

• Somalia

• Sudan

• Yemen

 

Partial bans cover:

• Burundi

• Cuba

• Laos

• Sierra Leone

• Togo

• Turkmenistan

• Venezuela

 

What has the administration said publicly?

 

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Monday that she had urged the president to widen the restrictions. “I just met with the President. I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies,” she said in a post on X.

 

How does this fit into broader immigration changes?

 

Trump’s first-term ban went through several versions and a long legal fight before the US Supreme Court ruled it was “squarely within the scope of Presidential authority.” He reinstated the policy earlier this year.

 

US Citizenship and Immigration Services has since issued guidance asking officers to treat a country’s inclusion on the president’s travel ban as one of the “significant negative factors” in immigration assessments. The State Department has also paused all visa issuances for Afghan nationals applying with an Afghan passport, including those waiting for Special Immigrant Visas.

 

The White House has been reshaping immigration policy for months. Measures announced before the National Guard shooting include cutting the refugee cap, withdrawing temporary protected status for nationals of several countries, introducing a $100,000 application fee for H-1B visas used by high-skilled workers, and cancelling thousands of visas.

 

The plans for an expanded travel ban were first reported by CBS News.