United States President Donald Trump is reportedly considering expanding the U.S. travel ban to include Nigeria and several other countries, many of them in Africa, as part of a broader push for tighter immigration controls.
According to The Washington Post, an internal memo signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio outlines plans to potentially impose travel restrictions on 36 additional countries unless they meet new security and information-sharing requirements set by the U.S. State Department within 60 days.
The countries being reviewed include Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Others on the list are Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Syria, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
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These nations are expected to submit an initial plan to the State Department outlining how they intend to comply with the new requirements by a Wednesday deadline.
Earlier in March, Trump had weighed a travel ban on 43 countries, excluding Nigeria at the time.
Those countries were categorized into red, orange, and yellow groups—ranging from complete travel bans to limited visa restrictions, and in some cases, a 60-day window to address U.S. concerns.
In June, Trump signed an executive order enforcing a full travel ban on nationals from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Yemen, Eritrea, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and others.
Since beginning his second term in January, Trump has doubled down on restrictive immigration measures, leading to increased deportations and expanded entry bans for certain nations.
