{"id":1339,"date":"2025-06-20T11:37:29","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T11:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/06\/20\/is-trump-planning-an-africa-visa-ban\/"},"modified":"2025-06-20T11:37:29","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T11:37:29","slug":"is-trump-planning-an-africa-visa-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/06\/20\/is-trump-planning-an-africa-visa-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Trump planning an \u2018Africa visa ban\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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United States President Donald Trump could significantly expand his\u00a0travel ban list<\/a> in the next few weeks to include 36 more countries, 26 of which are in Africa, US media reports say, citing internal\u00a0government documents.<\/p>\n

With 10 countries already included on Trump\u2019s initial list, citizens of 36 of Africa\u2019s 54 nations could now be banned, fully or partially, from entering the US if the new list takes effect. This would make Africa the most-banned region of the world when it comes to travelling to the US.<\/p>\n

The visa bans are part of Trump\u2019s promised immigration crackdown, which has been in motion since he took office in January, and which has already seen citizens of 19 countries in Africa and the Middle East banned or severely restricted from entering the US.<\/p>\n

In a memorandum sent to US representatives in the affected countries on June 14, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the governments of those countries had been given 60 days to meet standards dictated by the Department of State. The memo also requested that those countries provide an initial action plan in line with meeting those measures by June 18.<\/p>\n

That deadline has now passed. It is unclear if any of those countries have submitted the requested plans of action.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what we know about the possible Africa travel bans and who could be affected:<\/p>\n

How many African countries are on the list?<\/h2>\n

Of the 36 new countries mentioned in the reported memo, 26 are in Africa: Angola; Benin; Burkina Faso; Cabo Verde; Cambodia; Cameroon; the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); Djibouti; Ethiopia; Egypt; Gabon; The Gambia; Ghana; Ivory Coast; Liberia; Malawi; Mauritania; Niger; Nigeria; Sao Tome and Principe; Senegal; South Sudan; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; and Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

Others on the list are in the Caribbean, Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East: Antigua and Barbuda, Bhutan, Cambodia, Dominica, Kyrgyzstan, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Syria, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.<\/p>\n

Countries which fail to address concerns raised by the Trump administration adequately could be recommended for a ban as early as August, the memo says.<\/p>\n

Seven African countries were included on Trump\u2019s first<\/a> list of 12 countries completely banned from entering the US from June 4. They are Somalia, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Libya, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea and Sudan. Three others \u2013 Sierra Leone, Burundi and Togo \u2013 were named on a separate list of seven countries which now face partial restrictions on their citizens, meaning some limited US visa categories are still open to them.<\/p>\n

This brings the total to 36 of Africa\u2019s 54 countries on a potential ban list for travel to the US.<\/p>\n

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Creole-language news airs on a TV as barber Charlemagne Merilien, who moved to the US following Haiti\u2019s 2010 earthquake to financially support his wife and five children still in Haiti, cuts a client\u2019s hair inside Els Beauty Salon in Miami\u2019s Little Haiti neighbourhood on June 6, 2025 [Rebecca Blackwell\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Why is Trump banning citizens of African countries?<\/h2>\n

Saturday\u2019s memo gave a wide range of reasons for a potential ban on the countries affected. It did not provide justifications specific to each country, but cautioned that countries had been flagged for separate reasons.<\/p>\n

Some of the countries are designated as \u201csponsors of terrorism\u201d or have citizens who were \u201cinvolved with acts of terrorism in the United States\u201d, according to one reason given. Others, as per the memo, do not have a credible \u201cgovernment authority to produce reliable identity documents\u201d, have unreliable criminal records, or sell citizenship to people who do not live in their countries.<\/p>\n

High rates of visa overstays by citizens of some countries were also cited as reasons to curb travellers, as well as a lack of cooperation by states when it comes to taking back citizens who have been deported from the US.<\/p>\n

Affected countries could address US concerns by agreeing to accept back deportees \u2013 even those originating from other countries \u2013 or agreeing to become a \u201csafe third country\u201d that will take in people seeking asylum in the US, the memo stated. Mineral-rich DRC proposed<\/a> such a deal to the White House in March.<\/p>\n

In early June, when the first travel ban list was released, Trump stated in a video message released by the White House that a recent attack on a pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado<\/a>, \u201cunderscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted\u201d.<\/p>\n

Suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national who has also lived in Kuwait, has since been arrested and charged with a federal hate crime and several other state charges. His wife and five children are presently detained by US immigration officials. Egypt is now being considered for a ban, although Kuwait is not on either list of countries facing visa bans.<\/p>\n

This is not the first time Trump has banned citizens of other countries, which critics point out tend to be non-white and low-income nations. During his first presidential term, a controversial and highly-challenged policy, which came to be known as the \u201cMuslim ban<\/a>\u201d, saw seven Muslim-majority countries on a red list that later expanded to include some low-income African nations. Former President Joe Biden rescinded the ban when he took office in 2021.<\/p>\n

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Chad\u2019s President Idriss Deby (centre) is welcomed by his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron (right) and then-European Council chief Charles Michel during the EU-AU summit in Brussels, Belgium, February 17, 2022 [Olivier Hoslet\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How many people from African countries live in the US?<\/h2>\n

About two million of the US\u2019s 44 million immigrant population come from African nations, according to data from the US-based Migration Policy Institute. Nearly half of African immigrants migrated to the US after 2010, according to the US Census Bureau, and represent the fastest-growing immigrant bloc in recent years.<\/p>\n

Many African immigrants are highly educated with one or more degrees, and represent the largest immigrant group in the labour force, the bureau reported. About 61 percent are naturalised US citizens.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a breakdown of immigrant numbers by country between 1960 and 2023, according to data<\/a> from the Migration Policy Institute:<\/p>\n