The latest measure affects passport holders from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Sierra Leone
US President Donald Trump has expanded a travel ban to suspend entry to nationals from five more African countries, according to a decree published by the White House.
The new measures, announced on Tuesday and set to take effect on January 1, 2026, impose full entry bans on people from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Sierra Leone. They join other countries already subject to complete restrictions, including Chad, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia, and Sudan.
“Foreign nationals from countries named in this proclamation have been involved with crimes that include murder, terrorism, embezzling public funds, human smuggling, human trafficking, and other criminal activity,” Trump wrote.
For Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, Trump cited the activities of terrorist organizations in the Sahel states, while additionally singling out Burkina Faso for “historically” refusing to accept people being repatriated from the US.
Sierra Leone, which had previously been subject only to partial restrictions, has now been fully banned because it “has historically failed to accept back its removable nationals,” according to the proclamation, with South Sudan barred on similar grounds.
The executive order also imposes partial travel restrictions on 15 countries, including Nigeria and 11 other African states.
The US president said Nigeria poses “substantial screening and vetting difficulties” because “radical Islamic terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State operate freely in certain parts” of the country.
“The entry into the United States of nationals of Nigeria as immigrants, and as nonimmigrants on … visas, is hereby suspended,” he stated, ordering a reduction in the validity of any other nonimmigrant visa issued to applicants from Africa’s most populous nation.
Last month, Washington accused Islamist militants of targeting Christians in Nigeria and floated possible military action. Abuja rejected the claim as a misrepresentation of the crisis, saying attacks affect people of all faiths.
Trump has revived hardline migration policies since returning to office in January, despite widespread opposition from civil rights groups and foreign governments.
In June, Chad suspended its issuance of visas to US citizens in retaliation for an entry ban on the Central African state.
