The Trump administration has officially significantly expanded its signature travel ban, signing a new proclamation on December 16 that adds five more nations to the list of those facing total entry bans.
This latest move brings the total number of countries under either full or partial restrictions to over 30, a rapid escalation from the 19 nations initially targeted when the policy was reinstated in June 2025.
The newest additions to the “full ban” list are Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria. These countries join an existing list of 12 nations—including Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, and Haiti—whose citizens are now entirely barred from entering the United States. In a notable shift, the administration also applied full travel restrictions to individuals holding Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents. Beyond the full bans, the proclamation adds 15 more countries to the “partial restriction” list, targeting nations such as Nigeria, Tanzania, and Senegal, where travellers will face heightened vetting and limits on specific visa categories.
The White House justified the expansion by citing “persistent and severe deficiencies” in the screening and information-sharing practices of the designated countries. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem underscored this stance, arguing that the US should not permit entry to individuals from nations that cannot reliably verify their identities or criminal records. The administration specifically linked the timing of the expansion to a Thanksgiving week shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, DC, allegedly carried out by an Afghan national, using the incident to highlight perceived gaps in the current vetting system.
Critics and civil rights advocates have condemned the move as “collective punishment”, arguing it traumatises refugees and families who have already undergone years of extensive background checks. Legal experts note that while the Supreme Court upheld the 2018 version of the ban as being within presidential authority, the 2025 expansion is significantly broader in scope, affecting nearly 5% of the world’s population. As the “Travel Ban 4.0” goes into effect, it is expected to face immediate challenges in federal courts, even as the administration maintains that the measures are a common-sense necessity to protect national security and public safety.
