U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly weighing the possibility of expanding the country’s travel ban to include Nigeria and several other African nations, as part of broader efforts to tighten immigration controls.
According to a report by The Washington Post, an internal memo signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicates that up to 36 countries may be impacted by the proposed visa restrictions, pending the president’s final approval.
The rationale behind the expanded ban stems from concerns over inadequate government transparency and the absence of reliable systems for verifying the identities and backgrounds of travelers from the listed countries. U.S. officials argue that such deficiencies pose national security and immigration enforcement risks.
Among the nations reportedly on the list are 25 African countries, including Nigeria, which is one of the United States’ largest trading partners on the continent. Also included are Egypt and Djibouti — two of America’s closest military allies in Africa.
Other African nations mentioned in the proposed travel ban include: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
In addition to the African countries, the proposed list includes Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Syria, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
The memo reveals that U.S. diplomats were directed to inform the affected countries of the new policy shift. Each country is expected to submit an initial plan to the U.S. State Department by Wednesday outlining how it intends to comply with the updated requirements.
The Trump administration cited several reasons for the move, including the inability of some governments to issue credible civil documents such as passports and birth certificates, the presence of systemic fraud, and high numbers of citizens overstaying their visas once in the United States.
The memo also gives the affected nations a 60-day deadline to meet specific benchmarks laid out by the State Department, or risk facing travel restrictions similar to those already imposed on a dozen countries earlier this month. Those countries include Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
The proposed expansion of the travel ban is expected to draw significant international criticism, particularly from African leaders and diaspora communities who have previously condemned such measures as discriminatory.
