DHS Secretary Pushes for Full Travel Ban after National Guard Shooting
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem wants to expand a travel ban to dozens of countries, following the shooting of two West Virginia National Guard members in Washington the day before Thanksgiving. The secretary said she met with President Trump to push for a full travel ban.
“I just met with the President. I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies,” wrote Secretary Noem on X.
According to NBC News about 30 countries will be on the full travel ban list. DHS says it will be “announcing the list soon.”
The suspected shooter is an Afghan national who entered the U.S. in 2021, via a program for those who assisted the U.S. during its two-decade war in Afghanistan. Killed in the attack was Army Guardsman Spc. Sarah Beckstrom while Air Guardsman Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe is in serious condition.
After the shooting, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) indefinitely paused the processing of immigration requests from Afghans, as well as people from 18 other countries that were on the initial travel ban or partial travel ban list the administration issued in June 2025.
Those countries are Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Yemen.
“Effective immediately, I am issuing new policy guidance that authorizes USCIS officers to consider country-specific factors as significant negative factors when reviewing immigration requests. American lives come first.” said USCIS Director Joseph Edlow.
The news means that people from those nations already in the U.S. — regardless of when they arrived — will come under extra scrutiny.
USCIS says within 90 days it will create a prioritized list of immigrants for review and possible referral to immigration enforcement.
Critics say the Trump administration’s actions have amounted to collective punishment for immigrants.