Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Tuesday that further restricts and limits the entry of foreign nationals to the United States, the White House said.
The US has imposed full restrictions and entry limitations on nationals from five countries – Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria – in addition to the initial list of 12 countries. Full restrictions have also been imposed on individuals holding Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents, the White House said.
The move represents an intensification of Trump’s crackdown in the immediate aftermath of the shooting of two national guard members in Washington DC on 26 November. The suspected shooter is an Afghan national who served in a unit under the CIA in Afghanistan and was admitted to the US after its withdrawal from the country in 2021. He was granted asylum this year after being vetted.
The Trump administration has highlighted the case to justify further tightening controls on immigration. Trump himself has since engaged in incendiary racist rhetoric against some immigrant groups.
The inclusion of Syria among the five added countries comes days after three Americans – two soldiers and a civilian interpreter – were killed in the country in an attack the US blamed on the Islamic State.
Trump recently hosted the country’s president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, at the White House.
A White House fact sheet justifying the country’s inclusion on the list stated: “While the country is working to address its security challenges in close coordination with the United States, Syria still lacks an adequate central authority for issuing passports or civil documents and does not have appropriate screening and vetting measures.”
Partial restrictions were imposed on a further 15 countries, identified as: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The expanded list of restrictions follows an announcement by Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary on 5 December, which indicated her plan to increase the number of countries on the travel ban list.
Tuesday’s proclamation said the restrictions were “necessary to prevent the entry of foreign nationals about whom the United States lacks sufficient information to assess the risks they pose. It is the President’s duty to take action to ensure that those seeking to enter our country will not harm the American people.”
