The Trump administration has given 36 countries—most of them in Africa—a deadline of Wednesday to commit to strengthening travel vetting procedures or face the possibility of a travel ban on their citizens entering the United States.
A diplomatic cable sent by the State Department over the weekend directed embassies and consulates in those countries to assess their host nations’ willingness to improve travel documentation and cooperate in resolving the status of nationals currently living in the U.S. illegally.
The cable, described to The Associated Press, instructs the countries to take corrective action within 60 days or risk being added to the existing travel ban list, which already includes 12 countries. Of the 36 newly targeted nations, 25 are located in Africa. This marks the latest effort by the Trump administration to address visa overstays and to link U.S. entry policies with national security concerns. President Trump has argued that certain countries have “deficient” vetting systems or have historically refused to accept deported citizens.
Some nations have denounced the travel restrictions and threatened reciprocal measures, while refugee and resettlement groups argue the policy promotes division. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce declined to comment on the details of the cable, which was first reported by The Washington Post, but confirmed the administration’s objectives. She stated that the U.S. is asking countries to “improve their own vetting processes for passport holders, accept their nationals deported from the U.S. and take other steps to ensure their citizens are not a threat to the U.S.”
“We’re looking at providing a period of time, (where if countries) don’t get to that point where we can trust them and they’ve got to change the system, update it, do whatever they need to do to convince us that we can trust the process and the information they have,” Bruce said.
It remains unclear whether countries that commit to reforms but fall short of meeting U.S. benchmarks within the 60-day window will still be subject to the ban. The list includes key U.S. partners like Egypt and Djibouti, both with military ties to Washington, as well as historically friendly nations such as Liberia, Nigeria, and Ethiopia. Notably, Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo—excluded from the initial travel ban—are now included.
South Sudan, which already faces a separate State Department travel ban, has seen most of its citizens’ U.S. visas revoked under prior restrictions. Earlier this month, President Trump enacted a travel ban on 12 countries and imposed additional visa restrictions on seven others. That order barred the issuance of new visas but did not revoke those already granted.
The 12 nations subject to the current travel ban include Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Additional visa restrictions apply to citizens of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
The 36 countries identified in the new State Department cable are: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, South Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
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