The Trump Administration is reportedly mulling over a new travel ban affecting citizens from as many as 43 countries—a possible extension of the original travel ban from Trump’s first term, which mainly focused on Muslim-majority nations.
An internal memo, initially reviewed by the New York Times and later by Reuters, indicates that the Trump Administration has added new countries to a draft of a 2.0 version of the travel ban. According to the memo, these countries will be categorized into three tiers: red, orange, and yellow.
Citizens from the 11 nations in the “red” category would be categorically prohibited from entering the United States. This list includes Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. The Times also mentioned that this list was generated by the State Department a few weeks prior, and modifications are possible.
As for the “orange” category—featuring Haiti, Russia, and Pakistan—citizens from these nations would face stringent limitations on their visas. According to Times reports, travelers from these countries would need to undergo “mandatory in-person interviews” to obtain a visa. Lastly, the “yellow” category consists of countries that must address the Administration’s concerns within 60 days, or risk moving to higher tiers. Countries like Cambodia, Zimbabwe, and The Republic of Congo are reportedly included in this group.
The White House has not yet provided a public response to the reported memo. TIME has reached out for comments from the White House.
The suggestion of a potential new travel ban emerged shortly after President Trump was questioned in a press briefing on March 12 regarding which nations might be featured on his 2.0 list. He dismissed the journalist’s inquiry, stating: “Wouldn’t that be a stupid thing for me to say?”
During his campaign, Trump pledged to restore the travel ban that garnered widespread attention upon its initial announcement in his first term. His signing of an Executive Order titled “Protecting The United States From Foreign Terrorists And Other National Security And Public Safety Threats” on January 20 reaffirmed these intentions.
Here’s a recap of Trump’s travel ban history and insights into his future plans.
Trump’s Initial Travel Ban
In January 2017, just a week after taking office, Trump enacted Executive Order 13769, titled “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States”—commonly known as the “Muslim travel ban,” since it predominantly targeted Muslim-majority countries. The ban prohibited entry to Syrian refugees and temporarily suspended admissions from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
This action precipitated chaos at airports and ignited nationwide protests. Courts in several states quickly blocked the initial ban, arguing it discriminatorily targeted Muslim countries and violated U.S. immigration law.
Eventually, the Supreme Court allowed a revised version of the ban to proceed, which continued to affect citizens from Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen, ultimately upholding it in 2018. These countries may be affected again if a 2.0 list is finalized.
Upon Joseph Biden taking office in 2021, he revoked the ban, labeling it “a stain on our national conscience” and “inconsistent with our long history of welcoming people of all faiths and no faith.”
“[T]hey have separated loved ones, inflicting pain that will ripple for years to come. They are just plain wrong,” Biden stated in the Executive Order that ended the ban.
Trump’s Campaign Promises to Reinstigate the Travel Ban
While campaigning for the 2024 elections, Trump repeatedly pledged to reinstate his 2017 travel ban.
During a rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota, in July, Trump told supporters that he would “restore the travel ban, suspend refugee admissions, stop the resettlement, and keep the terrorists the hell out of our country,” promising to implement these changes on “day one” of his presidency.
In a subsequent rally in Washington, Trump asserted his intent to prohibit individuals from “terrorist-infested” regions and expressed a desire to “seal our borders.”
“Remember the infamous travel ban? We didn’t allow people from certain parts of the world,” Trump remarked at a September 2024 event. “We’re not allowing them from infested countries.”
Trump’s Executive Order on “Vetting” Countries
Trump did not reinstate his travel ban on his first day as promised but did sign the Executive Order titled “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and other National Security and Public Safety Threats” on the initial day of his second term.
This Executive Order mandated that the Secretary of State, Attorney General, Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence submit a report “identifying countries worldwide where vetting and screening information is so sparse as to justify a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.” A deadline of 60 days was set for this report.
If the timeline is adhered to, this report is expected to be delivered to the President next week; he may have already received it.
The Executive Order further called for the report to reveal how many individuals from those countries had entered the United States since Biden’s inauguration.
This Executive Order is one of many recent actions taken by Trump aimed at significantly altering and solidifying the United States’ immigration and visitation policies.
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