United States President, Donald Trump, has unveiled a fresh expansion of Washington’s travel ban policy, bringing five additional countries under a total entry suspension and extending the prohibition to travellers using documents issued by the Palestinian Authority.
The White House said the latest measures are intended “to protect the security of the United States” and will come into force on 1 January.
Under the revised directive, citizens of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria will be denied entry into the US.
The policy also applies to individuals travelling with passports issued or endorsed by the Palestinian Authority, who are now subject to a full ban.
Laos and Sierra Leone, which had previously been affected by partial limitations, have also been elevated to the category of countries facing complete entry restrictions.
Meanwhile, limited restrictions have been imposed on 15 other countries, including Nigeria, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
Trump, who has continued to advance hardline immigration policies since returning to office in January, said the move followed what his administration identified as major weaknesses in foreign screening and vetting processes.
US authorities cited several concerns, including high rates of visa overstays, inadequate or unreliable civil registration systems, corruption, terrorism-related risks and poor cooperation by some governments in accepting deported citizens.
The decision was announced days after an Afghan national was arrested over the shooting of two National Guard troops during the Thanksgiving weekend, an incident the White House said highlighted ongoing security threats.
This is the third occasion Trump has enacted a travel ban. A similar order introduced during his first term in 2017 sparked widespread protests and a series of legal challenges in the US and abroad.
That earlier policy was later upheld by the US Supreme Court.
According to the White House, the restrictions will stay in place until the affected countries make “credible improvements” in areas such as identity verification, information-sharing and cooperation with US immigration agencies.
Officials clarified that the policy includes several exemptions, noting that lawful permanent residents, many current visa holders, diplomats and athletes participating in major international competitions are not affected.
They added that waivers may also be granted on a case-by-case basis where travel is deemed to serve the national interest of the United States.
Countries under full restrictions: Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Burma, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Yemen.
Individuals travelling on Palestinian Authority–issued or endorsed documents are also fully barred.
Countries under partial restrictions: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
