United States President Donald Trump has expanded his administration’s travel restrictions to include 15 additional countries, among them Zimbabwe, citing concerns over “widespread corruption, fraudulent or unreliable civil documents, and criminal records” that make it difficult for U.S. authorities to adequately vet travellers.
The White House said the measures form part of a broader crackdown on travel and immigration into the United States, aimed at strengthening national security and border controls.
Under the latest directive, full travel restrictions were imposed on Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria, as well as on individuals holding travel documents issued by the Palestinian Authority.
The administration also upgraded restrictions on Laos and Sierra Leone from partial to full bans.
Partial restrictions were introduced on 15 countries: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia and Zimbabwe. These measures include limitations on certain categories of visas and additional entry requirements.
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The ban on Turkmenistan was partially lifted, allowing non-immigrant visas, while restrictions on immigrant visas remain in place.
Explaining the move, the White House said many of the affected countries have weak or unreliable systems for issuing civil documents and maintaining criminal records, which “systemically prevent accurate vetting” of their citizens.
“Many of the restricted countries suffer from widespread corruption, fraudulent or unreliable civil documents and criminal records, and nonexistent birth-registration systems — systemically preventing accurate vetting,” the White House said in an announcement on Tuesday.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said earlier this month that she had recommended expanding the travel restrictions following the shooting of U.S. National Guard members by an Afghan national, which the administration said underscored ongoing security risks linked to immigration screening failures.
The expanded travel restrictions add to an existing list of 12 countries previously classified by the administration as “high risk,” where full entry bans remain in effect.
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