U.S. President Donald Trump speaks within the Oval Workplace on the White Home in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 10, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is contemplating considerably increasing its journey restrictions by probably banning residents of 36 extra nations from coming into the US, in response to an inside State Division cable seen by Reuters.
Earlier this month, the Republican president signed a proclamation that banned the entry of residents from 12 nations, saying the transfer was wanted to guard the US towards “international terrorists” and different nationwide safety threats.
The directive was a part of an immigration crackdown Trump launched this yr in the beginning of his second time period, which has included the deportation to El Salvador of a whole bunch of Venezuelans suspected of being gang members, in addition to efforts to deny enrollments of some international college students from U.S. universities and deport others.
In an inside diplomatic cable signed by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the State Division outlined a dozen issues concerning the nations in query and sought corrective motion.
“The Division has recognized 36 nations of concern that may be really useful for full or partial suspension of entry if they don’t meet established benchmarks and necessities inside 60 days,” the cable despatched out over the weekend mentioned.
The cable was first reported by the Washington Put up.
Among the many issues the State Division raised was the shortage of a reliable or cooperative authorities by a few of the nations talked about to supply dependable id paperwork, the cable mentioned. One other was “questionable safety” of that nation’s passport.
Some nations, the cable mentioned, weren’t cooperative in facilitating the removing of its nationals from the US who had been ordered to be eliminated. Some nations had been overstaying the U.S. visas their residents had been being granted.
Different causes for concern had been the nationals of the nation had been concerned in acts of terrorism in the US, or antisemitic and anti-American exercise.
The cable famous that not all of those issues pertained to each nation listed.
“We’re always reevaluating insurance policies to make sure the protection of Individuals and that international nationals comply with our legal guidelines,” a senior State Division official mentioned, declining to touch upon particular inside deliberations and communications.
“The Division of State is dedicated to defending our nation and its residents by upholding the very best requirements of nationwide safety and public security by our visa course of,” the official mentioned.
The nations that might face a full or a partial ban if they don’t deal with these issues throughout the subsequent 60 days are: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, South Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
That may be a big growth of the ban that got here into impact earlier this month. The nations affected had been Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
The entry of individuals from seven different nations – Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela – has additionally been partially restricted.
Throughout his first in workplace, Trump introduced a ban on vacationers from seven Muslim-majority nations, a coverage that went by a number of iterations earlier than it was upheld by the Supreme Courtroom in 2018.