Kristi Noem Announces Travel Ban On More Than 30 Countries

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced a sweeping new travel ban Thursday, blocking entry from more than 30 countries.

In June, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation barring entry from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, citing inadequate security measures and elevated terrorism risks. Appearing on “The Ingraham Angle,” Noem said the list has expanded to more than 30 countries.

“I won’t be specific on the number, but it’s over 30. And the President is continuing to evaluate countries,” Noem told host Laura Ingraham. “Listen, if they don’t have a stable government there, if they don’t have a country that can sustain itself and tell us who those individuals are and help us vet them, why should we allow people from that country to come here to the United States?”

Reuters previously reported that the Trump administration is weighing a plan to bar citizens of 36 additional countries from entering the United States. The Trump administration said the restrictions aim to push foreign governments to cooperate on security and to ensure that travelers from high-risk countries do not pose threats to U.S. public safety or national security.

Trump imposed the new restrictions in response to what he called escalating threats from nationals of high-risk countries, pointing to the arrest of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an illegal migrant who entered the U.S. during the Biden administration and attacked a pro-Israel demonstration in Boulder, Colo.

The Boulder assault came fewer than two weeks after 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez fatally shot Israeli embassy staffers Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim in Washington, D.C., then shouted “free Palestine” as officers took him into custody.

The DHS office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.