The Department of Homeland Security, under Secretary Kristi Noem, has formally recommended substantially expanding the Trump administration’s travel restrictions to include between 30 to 32 countries—a notable increase from the current list of 19 nations. This development, confirmed by sources familiar with the matter, would impose significant entry limitations on nationals from the affected countries seeking to visit the United States.
The proposal emerges in direct response to the recent shooting incident in Washington, DC, which resulted in the death of one National Guard member and left another critically injured. The identified suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is an Afghan national who previously collaborated with U.S. forces in Afghanistan before resettling in Washington state during the Biden administration and subsequently receiving asylum under Trump’s presidency.
Secretary Noem articulated a firm stance following discussions with President Trump, advocating for a comprehensive travel prohibition on what she characterized as nations that have been ‘flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.’ The existing roster of restricted countries includes Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
The administration has intensified its immigration enforcement measures, citing security vulnerabilities exposed by the DC shooting. Senior officials have criticized previous vetting procedures while calling for systemic immigration reforms. In a consequential move, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the reevaluation of all permanent resident cards issued to individuals from the currently restricted nations.
USCIS Director Joe Edlow implemented updated protocols empowering immigration officers to consider country-specific factors as significant negative elements during application reviews. Concurrently, the Department of Homeland Security revealed it is reassessing all asylum cases approved under the previous administration.
The agency has temporarily suspended all asylum adjudications pending enhanced vetting protocols, with President Trump threatening a permanent halt to migration from what he termed ‘third-world countries’—a policy position Secretary Noem publicly endorsed.