The U.S. government is set to widen its travel restrictions, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirming that more than 30 countries could be added to the existing ban.
“I won’t be specific on the number, but it’s over 30, and the president is continuing to evaluate countries,” Ms. Noem told in an interview on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle.” When asked to confirm whether the travel ban would expand to 32 countries, Noem responded with the statements shared above.
In June, President Trump issued a proclamation barring citizens from 12 countries from entering the United States, while imposing restrictions on travelers from seven others, citing the need to guard against “foreign terrorists” and other security risks. The restrictions affect both immigrants and non-immigrants, including tourists, students, and business visitors. Noem did not reveal which additional countries might be included under the expanded ban. Currently, the travel ban is on 19 countries.
Noem stopped short of naming any countries, offering no details on which nations the administration is considering for the expanded list.
“If they don’t have a stable government there, if they don’t have a country that can sustain itself and tell us who those individuals are and help us vet them, why should we allow people from that country to come here to the United States?” Noem said.
Reuters had earlier reported, citing an internal State Department cable, that the administration was weighing restrictions on travelers from 36 more countries. If the list is expanded, it would signal yet another tightening of the administration’s immigration stance, following the fatal shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., last week, an incident that has already intensified pressure on the White House to act.
Authorities have said the shooter was an Afghan national who arrived in the country in 2021 through a resettlement program that critics in the Trump administration claim lacked proper vetting. In the days that followed, Trump pledged to “permanently pause” migration from all “Third World Countries,” though he did not specify which nations he was referring to or clarify what he meant by the term.
Before this latest development, DHS officials had already confirmed that Trump directed a broad review of asylum approvals issued during Joe Biden’s presidency, along with green cards granted to citizens of 19 countries.