Trump Expands US Travel Ban to Include Syria, Palestinian Territories Due to Security Concerns

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced sweeping new restrictions that will bar individuals with Palestinian Authority–issued travel documents along with all Syrian nationals from entering the United States, citing persistent security, vetting, and identity-verification failures.

The White House released a fact sheet explaining that nationals from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and South Sudan will also be denied entry. Trump administration officials framed the move as a response to what they described as systemic deficiencies in governance, cooperation, and counterterrorism controls.

“The restrictions and limitations imposed by the proclamation are necessary to prevent the entry of foreign nationals about whom the United States lacks sufficient information to assess the risks they pose, garner cooperation from foreign governments, enforce our immigration laws, and advance other important foreign policy, national security, and counterterrorism objectives,” the fact sheet said.

The proclamation places Palestinian Authority travel papers in the same category as documents issued by states deemed unable or unwilling to meet minimum US security standards.

“Several US-designated terrorist groups operate actively in the West Bank or Gaza Strip and have murdered American citizens. Also, the recent war in these areas likely resulted in compromised vetting and screening abilities,” the fact sheet provided by the administration read.

In explaining its decision, the White House cited the “weak or nonexistent control exercised over these areas” by the Palestinian Authority, arguing that governmental failure to mitigate terrorist threats in these areas have made it impossible to ensure that civilians in the West Bank are “properly vetted and approved for entry into the United States.”

The administration said the decision reflects long-standing concerns raised by US security agencies regarding the lack of reliable civil registries, inconsistent identity verification, and the presence of terrorist networks operating in areas under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction. The restrictions are based on documentation and vetting standards rather than ethnicity or religion, underscoring that lawful permanent residents and certain narrowly defined exceptions remain in place.

In addition, the administration has placed an expansive travel ban on Syria, noting that the country is “emerging from a protracted period of civil unrest and internal strife.” The administration also said that the country possesses a high visa overstay rate.

“While the country is working to address its security challenges in close coordination with the United States, Syria still lacks an adequate central authority for issuing passports or civil documents and does not have appropriate screening and vetting measures,” the administration wrote.

The White House has signaled a cautious warming in its relationship with Syria’s new leadership, marked by increased diplomatic engagement. In November, Trump hosted the first-ever visit by a Syrian president to Washington, DC, vowing to help Syria as the war-ravaged country struggles to come out of decades of international isolation.

“We’ll do everything we can to make Syria successful,” Trump told reporters after his White House meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al Qaeda commander who until recently was sanctioned by the US as a foreign terrorist with a $10 million bounty on his head.

Sharaa led Islamist rebel forces that toppled longtime Syrian autocratic leader Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran, last year. Since taking power, he has sought to depict himself as a moderate leader who wants to unify his country and attract foreign investment to rebuild it after years of civil war. Many foreign leaders and experts have been skeptical of Sharaa, however, questioning whether he is still a jihadist trying to disguise his extremism.

The US has moved to lift many crippling sanctions it had imposed on Syria for years when Assad was in power.

In June, Trump had announced that citizens of 12 countries would be banned from visiting the US and those from seven others would face restrictions. The expansion of the policy announced on Tuesday will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026.

The White House framed the travel ban expansion as part of the administration’s broader efforts to secure the nation’s borders and minimize threats from malicious foreign actors.

“It is the president’s duty to take action to ensure that those seeking to enter our country will not harm the American people,” the fact sheet read

The administration also emphasized the legality of the act, citing Supreme Court precedent which upheld previous travel bans, ruling that it “is squarely within the scope of presidential authority.”