The United States government is preparing a substantial expansion of its travel restriction policies that would bar citizens from more than thirty additional countries from entering the nation. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revealed the planned measures during a Thursday interview with Fox News, though she declined to provide specific details regarding which nations would be affected.
This announcement represents the latest in a series of increasingly stringent immigration measures implemented by the Trump administration over recent months. In June, President Trump signed a proclamation that completely barred citizens from twelve countries while imposing severe restrictions on travelers from seven others. These restrictions apply to both immigrants and temporary visitors, including students, tourists, and business travelers.
Secretary Noem emphasized that countries lacking stable governance structures or those unable to adequately verify identity and security information risk being added to the expanded list. “If a nation cannot vouch for the identity of its citizens, why should we admit those individuals into our country?” she questioned during the interview.
The potential expansion comes amid heightened political pressure following the deadly attack on two National Guard members in Washington, DC. The suspect, an Afghan national who entered the United States through a resettlement program in 2021, allegedly underwent insufficient screening according to administration critics. In response, President Trump announced that immigration from “all Third World countries” would be “permanently paused” without specifying which nations this designation encompassed.
Since returning to the White House in January, the Trump administration has implemented an immigration enforcement-centered policy approach. Federal agents have been deployed to major cities, and asylum seekers have been systematically turned away at the southern border. While the administration’s focus has primarily emphasized deportations and enhanced border security, the potential travel ban expansion signals a new effort to restrict legal entry pathways into the United States.
Earlier reports from Reuters, citing an internal document, indicated that the administration was considering barring citizens from an additional 36 countries, though it remains unclear whether this proposal aligns with Secretary Noem’s recent announcement.