US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem holds a press conference in Los Angeles, California, USA on June 12, 2025.
Aude Gerucci | Reuters
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced that the Trump administration is expanding its travel ban on nationals from certain countries to more than 30 people after a man from Afghanistan was accused of fatally shooting two National Guard members.
The expansion builds on a travel ban previously announced by the Republican administration in June that barred citizens of 12 countries from traveling to the United States and restricted access to the United States for citizens of seven other countries. Noem suggested in a social media post earlier this week that more countries could be included.
Noem spoke in an interview with Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham late Thursday, but did not provide further details, saying President Donald Trump was considering which countries to include.
In response to the National Guard shooting, the administration has gradually tightened restrictions on 19 countries already covered by the original travel ban, including Afghanistan, Somalia, Iran and Haiti.
Ingraham asked Noem if the travel ban would be expanded to 32 countries, adding to the 19 announced earlier this year.
“I won’t give you a specific number, but it’s over 30. And the president continues to evaluate each country,” Noem said.
“If they don’t have a stable government there, if they don’t have a country that can maintain their own country and tell us who these people are and help us vet them, then why should we allow people from that country to come here to the United States?” Nom said.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment on when the latest travel ban would go into effect or which countries it would target.
The June addition to the travel ban is the latest in a series of rapidly evolving immigration measures since the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington during Thanksgiving week.
Rahmanullah Rakanwal, who immigrated to the United States from Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal, was charged with first-degree murder after the Nov. 26 shooting that left one of the two victims, Sarah Beckstrom, a specialist in the West Virginia National Guard, dead. The second victim was Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe was seriously injured. Lakhanwal has pleaded not guilty.
The Trump administration has argued that more scrutiny is needed to ensure people entering the U.S. or already in the country are not a threat. Critics say the administration is traumatizing people who already go through extensive screening to enter the United States, and argue that the new measures amount to collective punishment.
For more than a week, the administration suspended asylum decisions, suspended processing of immigration benefits for U.S. residents from 19 banned countries, and stopped issuing visas to Afghans who supported the U.S. war effort.
On Thursday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it would shorten the validity of work permits for certain applicants, such as refugees and asylum seekers, who must reapply more often and be reviewed more frequently.
