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Individuals from seven countries are banned from traveling to the United States starting Thursday, as new restrictions ordered by President Donald Trump earlier this year take effect, according to updated guidance from Customs and Border Protection.
The travel ban applies to citizens of Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Syria. The order, signed by Trump earlier in 2025, covers both immigrant and non-immigrant travelers, according to a CBP document dated Dec. 29.
The White House said the move is intended to protect national security and public safety. Immigrant-rights advocates, however, criticized the decision, arguing it unfairly targets African and Muslim-majority nations.
The new restrictions expand on previous bans that remain in place for travelers from Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Partial travel restrictions also continue for Venezuela and Cuba, according to the document.
President Trump addressed the issue last week during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago, reiterating his administration’s commitment to what he called “strong borders and secure vetting.”
The expanded travel restrictions coincide with new regulations affecting the H-1B visa program, which took effect Monday. The program allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers with specialized skills, but the new rules replace the previous random lottery system with a weighted selection process favoring applicants who command higher wages.
“The existing random selection process of H-1B registrations was exploited and abused by U.S. employers who were primarily seeking to import foreign workers at lower wages than they would pay American workers,” said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Matthew Tragesser.
“The new weighted selection will better serve Congress’ intent for the H-1B program and strengthen America’s competitiveness by incentivizing American employers to petition for higher-paid, higher-skilled foreign workers,” he added.
USCIS said approximately 85,000 H-1B visas are issued annually. The administration’s broader immigration strategy has focused on tightening visa eligibility and expanding travel restrictions as part of its effort to strengthen border security and reduce what officials describe as chronic abuse of the U.S. immigration system.
