In the wake of last week’s tragic shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, the Trump administration is preparing a sweeping expansion of its travel ban, potentially extending restrictions to roughly 30 countries. The move signals a sharp escalation in the administration’s efforts to further limit migration into the United States.
According to a senior Department of Homeland Security official, the list of newly targeted countries will be released soon. Currently, the US enforces a full travel ban on 12 nations and partial restrictions on seven others. The upcoming expansion would mark one of the most significant shifts in US immigration policy since Trump’s return to office.
On Tuesday, US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it would pause all immigration requests — including green card applications — from individuals originating from the 19 countries already under full or partial restriction. USCIS also confirmed a comprehensive re-review of immigration approvals granted to nationals from those countries who entered the US after the beginning of the Biden administration.
The intensified crackdown follows the identification of the shooting suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who worked with US forces and the CIA before arriving in 2021. Trump and his allies swiftly blamed Biden-era immigration policies for allowing Lakanwal into the country, fueling calls for broader and more aggressive restrictions.
In the days since the attack, Trump outlined several major actions his administration intends to pursue, including halting admissions from select developing countries, revoking some naturalized citizenships, and cutting federal benefits for non-citizens. Although the implementation details remain unclear, expanding the travel ban appears to be one of the most immediate and concrete steps the administration is set to take.
Trump’s original travel ban — first introduced during his initial term — faced numerous legal challenges and revisions before ultimately being upheld by the US Supreme Court as within presidential authority. Earlier this year, Trump reinstated and tightened that policy.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated Monday that she personally urged the president to widen the ban, though she did not specify the number of countries under consideration. Her comments underscored the administration’s intensified stance toward countries deemed high-risk.
At present, the full travel ban applies to Afghanistan, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Partial bans affect Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. All 19 countries are included in the new immigration application freeze.
The latest USCIS policy memo cites the Lakanwal case directly and emphasizes heightened scrutiny for applicants from banned countries. The State Department has also paused all visa issuances for Afghan passport holders, including Special Immigrant Visa applicants.
In recent social media posts, Trump vowed to permanently halt migration from what he termed “all Third World Countries.” Even before the Washington attack, his administration had rolled out a series of restrictive immigration measures — including lowering refugee caps, removing temporary protections for several nationalities, imposing a 100,000 application fee for H-1B visas, and revoking thousands of existing visas.
Despite political divides, the unfolding situation has raised urgent questions about national security, due process, and the future of global mobility. As policies tighten and tensions rise, individuals and families across the affected regions await clarity on how these sweeping decisions will reshape their lives.
