Trump Administration’s Expansion of “Travel Ban” List from 19 to 40 Designations is Unjust and Discriminatory
Travel Ban Should be Rescinded, Not Expanded
December 16, 2025 – No Muslim Ban Ever, a coalition of organizations representing Muslim, Arab, Middle Eastern, and South Asian communities, is deeply concerned about the proclamation signed by President Trump earlier today announcing that his administration is expanding its travel ban from 19 countries to 40 total designations, dramatically widening a policy that has already separated families, upended lives, and sown fear in immigrant communities across the United States.
Under this expansion, the administration is adding full travel restrictions for Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria and for individuals holding Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents. An additional 15 countries were added to the partial restrictions list. The countries being added are primarily African nations, underscoring the administration’s policy of targeting Black and Brown immigrants.
The No Muslim Ban Ever coalition states unequivocally that the travel ban list should be rescinded, not expanded. For journalists covering this development, we offer the following quotes for publication and can connect you with these and other experts for interviews:
QUOTES AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION:
Aarti Kohli, Asian Law Caucus Executive Director: “The Trump administration is using tragedy as cover for the mass immigration ban they've wanted all along. In the same breath, they're also going after people who've lived here lawfully for decades—stripping legal status based solely on nationality. This expanded ban scapegoats our neighbors, colleagues, and community members while destabilizing workplaces, separating families, and harming local economies. When we allow the government to play politics with people's lives and abandon due process for some, we put those fundamental protections at risk for all of us."
Raha Wala, National Immigration Law Center Vice President of Strategy and Partnerships: “Expanding an already sweeping, discriminatory policy designed to bar Muslims and people of color from entering the United States is outrageous and needlessly cruel. Trump's bans separate families and strand people across oceans while doing nothing to make America safer. All of us must stand up to Trump's attempts to inflict suffering in his bid to distract Americans from his authoritarian power grabs.”
Sumayyah Waheed, Muslim Advocates Senior Policy Counsel: “As many families prepare to gather with loved ones this holiday season, the Trump administration continues its racist assault on vulnerable communities by expanding his xenophobic entry bans to 20 additional countries, furthering its legacy of cruelty, chaos and family separation. Over half the countries in Africa are now on the travel ban list This is a white supremacist fever dream, one that courts and Congress must stop enabling. As the Trump regime stokes division and fear to unleash its authoritarian power grab, our coalition is a testament that we are greater than fear: we will continue to resist racist bans and defend the pluralistic fabric of our society.”
Yasmine Taeb, MPower Change Action Fund Legislative and Political Director: "Rather than promoting unity in the aftermath of a national tragedy, the Trump administration has been exploiting it to advance a racist and harmful agenda. Expanding its discriminatory travel ban is simply another attempt by this administration to scapegoat the most vulnerable in our communities by demonizing immigrants and refugees. The expansion of this racist ban is reprehensible, immoral and will harm millions of people and tear families apart. We will vigorously fight these discriminatory bans and other hateful policies driven by this administration’s white supremacist agenda."
Zahra Billoo, CAIR San Francisco Bay Area Executive Director: “This administration is once again weaponizing the executive branch to target entire communities under the guise of national security. The overwhelming evidence shows this policy is a tool of discrimination used against mostly Black, African, and Muslim communities that deliberately exploits the pain of people fleeing instability, war, and persecution. We stand ready to defend our communities against this cruel policy and provide immediate legal support to those impacted. We urge all allies to join us in demanding that Congress pass the No Ban Act immediately to permanently end this discriminatory practice."
For interviews with the above experts or immigrants impacted by this new policy, please reach out to media@nomuslimbanever.com
No Muslim Ban Ever is a coalition of more than 200 organizations representing a diverse community of Muslim, Arab, Middle Eastern and South Asian organizations and allies in progressive, faith, human rights, and immigrant sectors. Together we are challenging the Trump administration's efforts to ban individuals from Muslim-majority countries as part of its larger white nationalist agenda of exclusion.