There has been speculation that the Trump administration is intending to re-institute the Travel Ban from his first tenure which prevented travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations from entering the US and which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018. On March 5, 2025, Reuters reported three anonymous sources had come forward with the news that as soon as next week, based on Trump’s executive order requiring intensified security vetting and identifying security risks per country, a new travel ban could bar people from Afghanistan and Pakistan from entering the US. The New York Times (“Times”) is reporting that this time around, this travel ban would be broader in scope.
In fact, according to the Times a draft of the Travel Ban proposed “circulating inside the executive branch” has broken up the potential list of countries to be categorized into a “red” list, for those countries that were on the Trump administrations’ original ban including, Cuba, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. Countries categorized in the “orange” group would have curtailed access but not be completely barred from entering the US. Finally, countries in the “yellow” category would be afforded sixty days to “change some perceived deficiencies or they would be added to one of the two other lists”. Apparently, the draft currently categorizes Afghanistan into the “red” group banning citizens from entry into the US.
The addition of Afghanistan to the list of banned counties has the potential to affect the lives of thousands of Afghans who have been cleared for resettlement in the US as refugees or on Special Immigrant Visas due to their cooperation with the US government during the war whose lives are at risk of Taliban retribution. To date, there are over 200,000 highly vetted Afghans who have undergone intense screening and have either been approved for US resettlement or have pending applications for refugee and Special Immigrant Visas. Due to the Trump administrations’ ninety-day freeze on refugee admissions into the US as of January 20th, the Afghani refugees have found themselves stranded in ninety other countries, including Pakistan. It is reported that the office within the State Department that oversees their resettlement is hopeful to receive an exemption from the soon to be announced travel ban “but it is not assumed likely to be granted” according to one of the sources. An emergency statement titled “Afghan Travel Ban coming” that urging Afghans with valid visas who are currently outside the United States to return to the US immediately was issued a non-profit organization that aids in resettling Afghans who worked with US forces during the war.
Having pledged to restrict entry into the US once again for citizens of certain countries during his 2023 presidential campaign it is sadly not surprising that the Trump administration is once again set to issue a travel ban. We will keep you updated as more information is announced.