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TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CONSIDERS ADDING NIGERIA TO US TRAVEL BAN LIST
The United States is weighing a significant expansion of its controversial travel ban, with Nigeria among 36 countries now under consideration for new visa restrictions, according to a State Department memo reviewed by The Washington Post.
The internal communication, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and dispatched to U.S. diplomatic missions over the weekend, outlines a list of nations that have been given a 60-day deadline to meet specific benchmarks or risk facing severe travel restrictions. The list includes 25 African countries, among them Nigeria, as well as nations from the Caribbean, Central Asia, and the Pacific.
If implemented, the move would represent one of the most sweeping extensions of the travel ban policy first introduced by the Trump administration on June 4. The previous proclamation had already imposed full travel bans on countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, and Somalia, while partially restricting others including Cuba and Venezuela.
A State Department spokesperson declined to comment on the deliberations, stating, “We do not comment on internal communications or discussions.” The White House has yet to issue an official response to the latest developments.
The memo stated that affected governments must submit initial action plans by 8 a.m. Wednesday, detailing how they intend to comply with U.S. vetting standards. It cited a range of deficiencies, including the inability to issue credible identity documents, rampant government fraud, and high numbers of visa overstays by nationals of the listed countries.
“Some countries had ‘no competent or cooperative central government authority to produce reliable identity documents or other civil documents,’” the memo said, while others suffered from “widespread government fraud.”
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and a longstanding U.S. partner, finds itself under scrutiny due to such criteria. The development could have major implications for thousands of Nigerians seeking entry into the United States for education, business, or family reunification.
In addition to document and visa overstay issues, the memo flagged concerns over countries offering citizenship by investment with minimal residency requirements. It also raised alarms about “antisemitic and anti-American activity in the United States” by individuals from some of the countries.
However, the memo offered a possible reprieve: countries that are willing to accept third-country nationals deported from the U.S. or that enter into a “safe third country” agreement could alleviate other concerns.
The 36 nations now under review include: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, South Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Critics have slammed the expansion as discriminatory. “Democrats and other critics of the Trump administration have described its efforts to issue blanket travel bans on selected nations as xenophobic and bigoted,” the Post reported, pointing to past restrictions targeting Muslim-majority and African countries.
President Trump has previously pledged to reinstate the travel ban policy, telling supporters on the campaign trail that his new version would be “bigger than before.”
