President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a proclamation dramatically expanding his administration’s travel ban, increasing the list of countries facing full or partial entry restrictions from 19 to 39 and imposing new limits on individuals holding travel documents issued by the Palestinian Authority. The move, which builds on policies Trump first introduced during his initial term and reinstated upon returning to office in January, immediately drew sharp criticism from lawmakers, journalists, and refugee advocates who described the expanded ban as discriminatory and rooted in white nationalist ideology.
Under the new proclamation, full travel restrictions remain in place for people from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. The order also adds full restrictions for travelers from Laos and Sierra Leone, which had previously faced only partial limitations, as well as Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria. The addition of Syria came just days after Trump vowed to “retaliate” following an attack by an Islamic State gunman that killed three Americans, including two service members, and wounded three others in Syria.
In addition to the full bans, the proclamation continues partial restrictions for Burundi, Cuba, Togo, and Venezuela and adds new partial limitations for Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The White House said the affected countries demonstrate “severe deficiencies in screening, vetting, and information-sharing.”
The order also applies travel limitations to individuals holding Palestinian Authority issued travel documents, a move that critics said uniquely targets Palestinians despite the United States’ refusal to recognize Palestine as a state and its continued backing of Israel’s military assault on Gaza. Etan Nechin, a New York based reporter for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, emphasized the real world consequences of such restrictions. “The harm isn’t theoretical,” Nechin said, pointing to the case of Palestinian peace activist Awdah Hathaleen, who earlier this year was denied entry at San Francisco International Airport, deported, and later murdered by an Israeli settler in the West Bank. Nechin argued that Trump and his allies understand the stakes of the policy and “they don’t care.”
The administration’s proclamation does include limited exceptions for lawful permanent residents, existing visa holders, certain visa categories, and individuals whose entry serves U.S. national interests. It also lifts a ban on nonimmigrant visas for citizens of Turkmenistan while maintaining a suspension on immigrant entry. A White House fact sheet stated that Turkmenistan “has engaged productively with the United States and demonstrated significant progress.”
Still, critics noted that the overwhelming majority of newly restricted countries are in Africa or the Middle East, along with Haiti and Cuba. Writer Mark Chadbourn summed up the pattern succinctly, saying, “It’s a white nationalist list—mainly Africa, some Middle East, plus Haiti and Cuba.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, the only Palestinian American in Congress, condemned the expansion in stark terms. She said that “this administration’s racist cruelty knows no limits, expanding their travel ban to include even more African and Muslim-majority countries, even Palestinians fleeing a genocide.” Tlaib accused Trump and his deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser Stephen Miller of seeking to remake the country’s demographics, saying, “Trump and Stephen Miller won’t be satisfied until our country has the demographics of a klan rally.”
The administration has pointed to recent violence as justification for the expanded restrictions. As the Associated Press reported, officials suggested the ban would be widened after the arrest of an Afghan national accused of shooting two National Guard troops near the White House over Thanksgiving weekend. The suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, previously worked with the United States in Afghanistan, resettled in Washington state under the Biden administration, and was later granted asylum during Trump’s presidency. He has pleaded not guilty to murder and assault charges. In the aftermath of the shooting, the administration announced a series of new immigration measures, including additional restrictions on people from countries already on the ban list who were living in the United States.
The expanded travel ban is part of a broader immigration crackdown that has unfolded since Trump returned to office. According to reporting cited in the material, the president has halted or significantly tightened nearly every legal and illegal pathway for foreign entry into the U.S., alongside an ongoing mass deportation campaign. Other policy changes include a pause on asylum decisions, a review of cases approved under the Biden administration, and a “reexamination” of certain green card holders.
Refugee advocates warned that the policy’s impact extends beyond people seeking to enter the country for the first time. Laurie Ball Cooper, vice president of U.S. Legal Programs at the International Refugee Assistance Project, said the organization “condemns the Trump administration’s escalating crackdown on immigrants from Muslim-majority and nonwhite countries.” She added, “This expanded ban is not about national security but instead is another shameful attempt to demonize people simply for where they are from.”
Cooper said the administration has already used the travel ban to harm immigrants who are legally present in the United States. “Subjecting more people to this policy is especially harmful given the administration’s recent invocation of the travel ban to prevent immigrants already living in the United States from accessing basic immigration benefits, including pulling them out of line at citizenship ceremonies,” she said. Cooper also noted that “the expanded proclamation notably includes Palestinians and eliminates some exceptions to the original ban.”
Journalists and analysts warned that adding Syria to the full ban could have particularly far reaching consequences. James Stout cautioned that “expanding the travel ban to Syria leaves few options for the people who fought and defeated the Islamic State and are being increasingly threatened by the Syrian state,” highlighting the potential risks for U.S. aligned partners in the region.
The proclamation also intersects with worsening humanitarian crises in many of the affected countries. As previously reported, Sudan, Palestine, and South Sudan recently topped the International Rescue Committee’s annual humanitarian crisis forecast, underscoring concerns that travel restrictions will further separate families and limit access to safety.
Trump’s expanded ban revives one of the most controversial policies of his first presidency. During his initial term, Trump barred travelers from seven majority Muslim nations, a move that sparked widespread protests and legal challenges. The Supreme Court ultimately upheld a third version of that policy in 2017, which restricted entry to varying degrees from Iran, North Korea, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and Venezuela. President Joe Biden repealed the ban upon taking office in 2021, but Trump reinstated and expanded it after returning to the White House.
As the new restrictions take effect, advocacy groups say they are preparing legal challenges and bracing for an increase in family separations and humanitarian harm. Cooper said the policy’s consequences are clear and immediate. “This racist and xenophobic ban will keep families apart, but we are prepared to defend our clients, their communities, and the American values of welcome, justice, and dignity for all.”
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