US President Donald Trump has been able to significantly expand his travel ban list in the coming weeks, including 36 more countries.
Trump's first list already includes 10 countries, so 36 citizens from 54 African countries can ban, either entirely or partially, from entering the United States if the new list is enabled. This would make Africa the most destroyed region in the world when it comes to travel to the US.
Visa Bans has been in motion since taking office in January and is part of Trump's promised immigration crackdown, which has seen citizens from 19 African and the Middle Eastern countries already enter the United States or be severely restricted.
In a memorandum sent to US representatives of affected countries on June 14, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that governments of these countries were given 60 days to meet the criteria determined by the State Department. The memo also requested that these countries provide an initial action plan in line with meeting these measures by June 18th.
That deadline is now over. It is unclear whether any of these countries have submitted the requested action plan.
Here's what we know about the possible travel bans in Africa and the people who may be affected:
How many African countries are there on the list?
Of the 36 new countries mentioned in the reported memo, 26 are in Africa: Angola. Benin; Burkina Faso; Cabo Verde; Cambodia; Cameroon; Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); djibouti; Ethiopia; Egypt; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Cote d'Ivoire; Liberia; Malawi; Mauritania; Niger; Nigeria; Sao Tome and Principe; Senegal; South Sudan; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; and Zimbabwe.
Others on the list are in the Caribbean, Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East. Antigua and Barbuda, Bhutan, Cambodia, Dominica, Kyrgyzstan, St. Kitz and Nevis, St. Lucia, Syria, Tonga, Tubal, Vanuatu.
Countries that fail to properly address concerns raised by the Trump administration may be recommended for a ban as early as August, the memo said.
The first list of Trumps, 12 countries that were banned from entering the United States from June 4th, included seven African countries. They are Somalia, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Libya, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea and Sudan. Three other people – Sierra Leone, Burundi and Togo, have been named another list of seven countries currently facing partial citizen restrictions. That is, the US visa category is still open.
This has made 36 of Africa's 54 countries on the potential ban on travel to the US.
Why does Trump ban citizens from African countries?
Saturday's memo provided a wide range of reasons why it could ban affected countries. It provided no country-specific justification, but warned that the country was flagged for different reasons.
Some countries have been designated as “terrorist sponsors” or have been “involved in US terrorist acts” for one reason. Others sell citizenship to people who do not have a reliable “governmental authority to create trustworthy identity documents,” or have unreliable criminal history, or who do not live in their country, according to the memo.
The enormously high rates of visas by citizens of several countries have also been cited as a reason to curb travellers, and as a lack of cooperation by the state when it comes to retrieving citizens deported from the US.
The affected countries can address US concerns by agreeing to accept their supporters, or by agreeing to become a “safe third country” recruiting people seeking asylum in the US, the memo said. The mineral-rich DRC proposed this deal to the White House in March.
When the first travel ban list was released in early June, Trump said in a video message released by the White House that the recent attack in Boulder, Colorado “emphasized the extreme danger of disappearing into our country due to the entry of foreigners who were not properly reviewed.”
The suspect, Mohamed Sabri Soliman, an Egyptian citizen who also lived in Kuwait, was later arrested and charged with federal hate crimes and several other state charges. His wife and five children are currently in custody by US immigrant staff. Egypt is currently being considered for a ban, but Kuwait is not on any list of countries facing a visa ban.
This is not the first time Trump has banned citizens from other countries. Critics point out that they tend to be non-white and low-income countries. During his first presidential term, the controversial and highly challenging policy that came to be known as the “Muslim ban” saw the majority of the seven Muslims on the Red List. Former President Joe Biden rescinded the ban when he took office in 2021.
How many people in Africa live in America?
Data from the US-based Institute for Immigration Policy Research shows that around 2 million of the US immigrant population of 44 million come from African countries. According to the US Census Bureau, almost half of African immigrants have migrated to the US since 2010, representing the fastest growing immigration bloc in recent years.
Many African immigrants are highly educated with one or more degrees and represent the largest immigrant groups in the workforce, the department reported. Approximately 61% are naturalized American citizens.
According to data from the Institute for Immigration Policy, the breakdown of the number of immigrants by country from 1960 to 2023 is as follows:
Nigeria – 476,000 Ethiopia – 278,200 Ghana – 241,000 Egypt – 225,665 Liberia – 100,800 Somalia – 92,400 Cameroon – 90,700 DRC – 62,500 Eritrea – 49,755 Sierra Leone – 45,532 Tanzania – 40,420 people – 17,000 Cabo Senegal – 28,581 Ivory Coast – 25,426 Zimbabwe – 24,490
How will these people be affected?
Trump's travel ban is likely to cause great uncertainty for people who already live in the US, experts say.
Michel Mittelstadt, communications director at the Institute for Immigration Policy, told Al Jazeera at the announcement of the initial travel ban:
Mittelstadt added that travel bans could divide families. “This is awarded to many citizens of these countries already in the United States, given that they cannot legally travel to the United States or apply for permanent or temporary visas.”
How often do people in these countries travel to the US?
According to Statista, approximately 588,177 visitors from Africa traveled to the US in 2024. National historical breakdowns are not available.
According to data from the US Department of Commerce, it is not on the list of the top 20 countries visiting the US this year. So far, around 100,000 visitors have been recorded.
South Africa – 24,800 Nigeria – 18,093 Egypt – 13,376 Ghana – 7,018 Kenya – 5,409
How are African countries responding to the looming US visa ban?
Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar warned this week that if the US bans citizens of West African countries it could miss out on essential and rare earth mineral trade.
“This is the most disappointing as it is an area of opportunity where we are ready to do business,” Tuggar, who currently chairs the Regional Bloc Economic Community for the West African Council of Foreign Ministers (ECOWAS), said in a meeting with his counterpart. He cited Nigeria's oil and gas reserves. The country is rich in tantalite and uranium.
Sarancidore, director of the Global South Program at the U.S. think tank Quincy Institute, told Al Jazeera that the visa ban is similar to “wall construction” between the US and the target area.
“Africa in particular is important to the United States as it is a place of natural resources, growth markets and talented population,” Sidor said. “If Washington wants to limit migration and travel from the continent, it should find other, unsupervised ways to demonstrate the US commitment to stronger relations with African countries.”
Trump actually appeared to be enthusiastic about the prominent trade in rare earth minerals, essential to the manufacture of batteries for smartphones and electric vehicles.
For example, Washington and Beijing are set to sign an agreement confirming that in exchange for ongoing access to US schools for Chinese students, China will provide rare earth elements and minerals essential to manufacturing technology gadgets and weapons, according to a social media post last week.
Last month, the US announced an agreement with Ukraine on rare earth minerals in exchange for helping to rebuild the country after the war with Russia ended.
When the first travel ban list was announced in early June, Chad responded to its inclusion by suspending visas for US citizens. In a Facebook post, President Idriss Deby said: “I have instructed the government to act according to the principles of reciprocity and suspended the issuance of visas to US citizens.”
According to the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Chadians had the highest visa overstay rate at 49.5% of those arriving in the country.
Other affected African countries were more reconciliatory.
Sierra Leone's Information Minister Cherner Barr said in a statement that his country is ready to work with the United States. “Our attitude towards this is what we can do more. How can we work with our US partners who we believe will maintain a very good relationship with,” he said.
Trump's first declaration in early June said Sierra Leone, now subject to partial restrictions, “historically unable to accept removable citizens.”
Somalia's US ambassador Dahir Hassan said the East African country wanted to work with the United States. “Somalia values its long-standing relationship with the United States and is ready to engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised,” he said.
Trump's declaration described Somalia as a “safe shelter for terrorists,” saying “Somalia lacks competent or cooperative central authorities to issue passports or civil documents, and there is no appropriate screening and screening measures.”
Meanwhile, in a statement on June 5, the African Union called on the United States to take a more constructive approach and to dialogue with African countries to maintain its historically strong relationship.
“The African Union respects the US administration to consider adopting a more consultative approach and to consider having constructive dialogue with relevant countries. The committee appeals for transparent communication and cooperative efforts to address the underlying issues that may have informed this decision when necessary,” the AU statement said.
