DHS Officially Halts All Immigration from Another 20 Countries, Here’s the List

President Trump expanded immigration restrictions last month, and now the hammer has officially dropped. As of this week, the Department of Homeland Security has paused all immigration from 20 additional third-world countries, most of them in Africa. This is not just about tourist visas or temporary travel. The pause covers visas, green cards, asylum claims, and citizenship applications. In other words, the door is shut, and the sign is not subtle.

The newly added countries are Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

BREAKING: Trump’s DHS halts immigration from 20 countries. pic.twitter.com/RZWYITmFSL

— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) January 3, 2026

These are on top of the 19 countries already under a full immigration ban. That earlier list includes Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Burma (Myanmar), Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

President Trump first imposed the ban after a horrific terror attack in November carried out by an Afghan national against National Guard members. That incident ended the usual excuses and forced Washington to confront reality. Borders matter, screening matters, and pretending otherwise gets people killed.

According to reporting from NPR, USCIS has paused all pending applications from the newly added countries and is re-reviewing cases going back to 2021. The agency made its reasoning painfully clear. “USCIS remains dedicated to ensuring aliens from high-risk countries of concern who have entered the United States do not pose risks to national security or public safety,” the memo states. It also points to high overstay rates and significant fraud.

This policy is not about cruelty, despite the predictable outrage. It is about control, enforcement, and national security, concepts that somehow became controversial in recent years. President Trump is doing what every serious country does, deciding who gets in and who does not. The list is long for a reason, and pretending otherwise does not make the risks disappear.