Homeland security head reveals plans to widen US travel ban to more than 30 countries

Source: The Guardian

Fri 5 Dec 2025 08.30 EST
Last modified on Fri 5 Dec 2025 11.14 EST


The US plans to expand the number of countries covered by its travel ban to more than 30, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Kristi Noem, has announced. Noem, in an interview on Fox News’s The Ingraham Angle on Thursday evening, was asked to confirm whether the Trump administration would be increasing the number of countries on the travel ban list to 32. “I won’t be specific on the number, but it’s over 30, and the president is continuing to evaluate countries,” she said.

Donald Trump signed a proclamation in June banning the citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States and restricting those from seven others, saying it was needed to protect against “foreign terrorists” and other security threats. The bans apply to both immigrants and non-immigrants, such as tourists, students and business travelers.

Noem did not specify which countries would be added to the list. “If they don’t have a stable government there, if they don’t have a country that can sustain itself and tell us who those individuals are and help us vet them, why should we allow people from that country to come here to the United States?” Noem said.

Reuters previously reported that the Trump administration was considering banning citizens of 36 additional countries from entering the US, according to an internal state department cable.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/05/kristi-noem-travel-ban