The Trump administration is weighing a broad expansion of the U.S. travel ban from its current 19-country scope to roughly 30 nations, according to multiple officials familiar with internal discussions. The push comes in the wake of a Washington, D.C. shooting in which an Afghan asylum-seeker who entered the United States in 2021 was involved in national security incidents that authorities say spurred the review.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has publicly urged a sweeping expansion of the ban and, after meeting with President Trump, indicated that more countries deemed risky should be barred from entry. CNN later reported that Noem was recommending a ban of between 30 and 32 countries. Officials say the exact list is still in flux and could change before any final decision is announced.
The current 19-country list includes Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, and partly restricted entries for Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. The expansion would add roughly 11 additional nations, bringing the total to about 30.
Administration officials say the expansion is intended to strengthen national security and improve vetting procedures in response to the DC shooting and related attacks, and to pressure cooperation from other countries on screening and deportation efforts. The plan would broaden a summer proclamation that already restricted or halted various forms of legal immigration and travel from the 19 affected countries.
As part of the broader crackdown, the Trump administration has halted visa and immigration processing for Afghan nationals and paused asylum decisions for all nationalities while a full review of green-card cases involving individuals from the 19 affected countries is conducted. The administration has said new additions to the travel-ban list would be announced “soon,” though no final list had been released as of the CBS News report on December 2, 2025.
Officials emphasize that the list is still under review and could change as security assessments evolve. The expansion would mark a sharper turn in the administration’s immigration strategy and signal how security concerns are reshaping U.S. entry rules.
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