According to US media reports, citing internal and government documents, Donald Trump could significantly increase his list of countries with a travel ban in the next few weeks to 36 more. 26 of those are in Africa.
With 10 countries already included on Trump’s initial list, citizens of 36 of Africa’s 54 nations could now be banned, fully or partially, from entering the US if the new list takes effect. In terms of traveling to the US, Africa would become the most dangerous region in the world due to this.
The visa bans are a result of Trump’s promised immigration crackdown, which has already been in place since he took office in January and has already severely restricted access to citizens of 19 African and Middle Eastern nations.
In a memorandum sent to US representatives in the affected countries on June 14, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the governments of those countries had been given 60 days to meet standards dictated by the Department of State. In addition, the memo requested that those nations provide a preliminary action plan in accordance with those goals by June 18.
The deadline has now passed. It is unclear if any of those countries have submitted the requested plans of action.
What are the current information and potential travel bans for Africa:
What number of African nations are included in the list?
Of the 36 new countries mentioned in the reported memo, 26 are in Africa: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Djibouti, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Antigua and Barbuda, Bhutan, Cambodia, Dominica, Kyrgyzstan, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Syria, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu are other countries on the list, along with those in the Caribbean, Asia, the Pacific, and the Middle East.
According to the memo, nations that fail to adequately address concerns raised by the Trump administration may be advised for bans as soon as August.
Seven African countries were included on Trump’s first list of 12 countries completely banned from entering the US from June 4. Somalia, Chad, Libya, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan, and the Republic of Congo. Sierra Leone, Burundi, and Togo are three more countries on a separate list of seven nations that are currently subject to limited US visa opportunities for their citizens.
This brings the total to 36 of Africa’s 54 countries on a potential ban list for travel to the US.
Why does Trump impose restrictions on African nation citizens?
Saturday’s memo gave a wide range of reasons for a potential ban on the countries affected. Instead of providing specific justifications for each nation, it warned that each country had been flagged for a different reason.
According to one reason, some of the nations have been “sponsors of terrorism” or have citizens who have “been involved in acts of terrorism in the United States.” Others, as per the memo, do not have a credible “government authority to produce reliable identity documents”, have unreliable criminal records, or sell citizenship to people who do not live in their countries.
As well as the fact that some countries’ citizens frequently overstay their visas, there are also concerns about the state’s unwillingness to cooperate when resuming their deportation from the US.
According to the memo, the affected nations could address US concerns by agreeing to accept back deported people from other nations or agreeing to establish a “safe third country” where they will accept asylum seekers. Mineral-rich DRC proposed such a deal to the White House in March.
Trump stated in a video message from the White House in early June that the recent attack on a pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado “underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreigners who are not properly vetted.”
Egyptian national Mohamed Sabry Soliman, who also resided in Kuwait, has since been detained and accused of a federal hate crime and a number of other state offenses. His wife and five children are presently detained by US immigration officials. Kuwait is not among the nations that are currently facing visa bans, but Egypt is currently being considered for a ban.
Trump has previously outlawed citizens of other nations, which critics claim are frequently low- and non-white. During his first presidential term, a controversial and highly-challenged policy, which came to be known as the “Muslim ban”, saw seven Muslim-majority countries on a red list that later expanded to include some low-income African nations. When he took office in 2021, former president Joe Biden voided the ban.
How many people from African countries live in the US?
According to data from the US-based Migration Policy Institute, about two million of the country’s 44 million immigrants are from Africa. According to the US Census Bureau, nearly half of African immigrants immigrated to the US after 2010, making them the fastest-growing segment in recent years.
Many African immigrants are highly educated with one or more degrees, and represent the largest immigrant group in the labour force, the bureau reported. About 61 percent of Americans have naturalized citizenship.
According to data from the Migration Policy Institute, the number of immigrant immigrants in each country was broken down between 1960 and 2023.
- Nigeria – 476, 000
- Ethiopia: 278; 200
- 241, 000 in Ghana
- Egypt – 225, 665
- Liberia: 100, 800, and 800
- Somalia: 92, 400
- Cameroon – 90, 700
- DRC: 62, 500
- 49 and 755 Eritrea
- Sierra Leone – 45, 532
- 40 and 420 respectively, Tanzania
- 37, 000 Togo
- Cabo Verde – 31, 441
- Senegal – 28 / 581
- Ivory Coast – 25 / 426
- Zimbabwe – 24, 490
What possible effects might these people have?
According to experts, Trump’s travel bans are likely to leave many Americans uneasy.
Michelle Mittelstadt, director of communications at the Migration Policy Institute, told Al Jazeera at the time of the first travel ban announcement: “For citizens of these countries living in the US who are not naturalised citizens, the travel ban most likely will freeze them in place, as many will be fearful that they might not be permitted re-entry if they leave the US temporarily”.
Due to the immobility that many citizens of these nations will experience as well as the inability to travel legally to the US or apply for a permanent or temporary visa, Mittelstadt added, “a family ban could split.”
How frequently do people from these nations visit the US?
According to Statista, about 588, 177 visitors from Africa travelled to the US in 2024. There is no record of a country-by-country historical breakdown.
No African nation is listed among the top 20 nations visiting the US this year, according to US Department of Commerce data. About 100, 000 visitors have been recorded so far, from the African continent, mostly from:
- 24 800 South Africa
- Nigeria: 18 093
- Egypt – 13, 376
- Ghana – 7 018
- 5 / 409 / Kenya
How are African countries responding to the looming US visa ban?
Yusuf Tuggar, the country’s foreign minister, warned this week that if citizens of West African nations are barred, the US might miss out on important and rare earth mineral deals.
In a meeting with his counterparts, Tuggar, who currently chairs the regional bloc Economic Community of West Africa’s (ECOWAS) council of foreign ministers, said, “This would be most unfortunate if it comes to pass.” He cited Nigeria’s reserves of oil and gas. Tanalite and uranium are both abundant in the nation.
According to Sarang Shidore, director of the US think tank Quincy Institute’s Global South program, visa bans are comparable to “building walls” between the US and targeted regions.
“Africa, particularly, is important to the United States as it is a site of natural resources, a growing market, and a talented population”, Shidore said. Washington should look for other, non-militarized ways to demonstrate its commitment to bolstering relations with African states if it wants to restrain migration and travel from the continent.
Trump has in fact shown a desire to negotiate lucrative deals for rare earth minerals, which are essential for the production of batteries for electric vehicles and smartphones.
For example, Washington and Beijing are set to sign an agreement that will see China provide rare earth elements and minerals crucial for manufacturing tech gadgets and weapons, in exchange for continued access to US schools for Chinese students, according to a social media post by Trump last week.
In exchange for aid in the country’s reconstruction after the Russian-Russian conflict ends, the US also announced a deal last month with Ukraine over rare earth minerals.
Chad responded to the inclusion of the first travel ban list by suspending US citizens’ visas when it first became available at the beginning of June. In a Facebook post, President Idriss Deby said: “I have instructed the government to act in accordance with the principles of reciprocity and suspend the issuance of visas to US citizens”.
The US Department of Homeland Security’s most recent statistics revealed that 49.5 percent of visitors to the country had the highest visa overstay rate.
Other affected African countries have adopted a more amiable tone.
Sierra Leone’s Information Minister Chernor Bah said in a statement that his country was ready to cooperate with the US. What else can we do, in our opinion? How can we work together with our US partners, who we trust will maintain a positive relationship, he said.
Trump’s initial proclamation in early June said Sierra Leone, which is now subject to partial restrictions, “has historically failed to accept back its removable nationals”.
Dahir Hassan, Somalia’s ambassador to the US, stated that the East African nation wanted to cooperate with the US. He stated that “Somalia values its long-standing relationship with the United States and is willing to talk through the issues raised.”
Trump’s proclamation described Somalia as “a terrorist safe haven” and stated: “Somalia lacks a competent or cooperative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents and it does not have appropriate screening and vetting measures”.
Meanwhile, the African Union urged the US to engage in more constructive dialogue and dialogue with African countries in order to maintain what it claimed were historically close ties in a statement released on June 5.
Source: Aljazeera
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