Trump administration weighs barring Cubans, Haitians from U.S. as part of new travel ban
The Trump administration is weighing including Cuba and Haiti on a list of countries whose nationals will face restrictions to enter the country, sources with knowledge of the ongoing discussions told the Miami Herald.
Cuba, which is on a State Department list of countries that sponsor terrorism, might end up on a “red list” of countries facing a total travel ban, while Haiti might end up on a less restrictive version of the list, the sources said.
Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump directed officials in the administration to come up with a list of nations that could be part of an expanded travel ban similar to the one he introduced during his first term for countries with Muslim majorities, based on the idea that they have a weak security apparatus to do background checks.
Since last week, universities have been warning professors and students of the countries that might be targeted to quickly return to the United States. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee also issued a similar warning while providing a list of countries.
The earlier version of the travel ban during the first Trump administration was later expanded to include North Korea and members of the Venezuelan government and their relatives. At the time, the U.S. government cited Venezuela’s lack of cooperation in providing information to verify whether its migrants posed a national security or public safety threat to the U.S.
That first travel ban, in its different versions, ended up affecting Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Mali, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Venezuela and Yemen. Cuba was not included in the ban during Trump’s first term in office.
The travel ban under discussion stems from a Jan. 30 executive order Trump signed ordering the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies to identify “countries throughout the world for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.”
When asked about the travel ban Tuesday, a State Department spokesperson told the Herald the agency “does not comment on internal deliberations or communications.”
“As laid out in President Trump’s Executive Order 14161 ‘Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats,’ the visa adjudication process must ensure that U.S.-bound foreign travelers do not pose a threat to the national security and public safety of the United States,” the spokesperson said referring to the Jan. 30 executive order.
“The Department is undertaking a full review of all visa programs as directed under this [executive order] and executing on administration priorities,” she added.
The Reuters news agency, quoting three sources, reported last week the new travel ban could bar nationals of Afghanistan and Pakistan from entering the U.S. The sources said other countries could also make the list but did not provide specifics.
In a recent email to its members, the American Association of University Professors warned that the new ban, though primarily targeted at Muslim-majority countries, could possibly include Venezuela and Haiti. The email warned that it would be “prudent” for members currently living or visiting the countries under threat “to make plans to return to the United States as soon as possible.
“U.S. citizens have the right to reenter, but the vetting process may be extreme and chaotic,” the email said, also warning that anyone from the potentially targeted countries who are currently in the U.S. “should consider not leaving the U.S.”
Until it is made official, the restrictions that Cubans and Haitians would face are still unclear. In its past version, the travel ban indefinitely suspended the issuance of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas, but different countries faced varying degrees of restrictions. Procedures were in place to request waivers, though only a tiny percent were granted.
Since 2017, the U.S. Embassy in Havana has not issued non-immigrant visas for family visits or business travel, with a few exceptions made for activists, independent private entrepreneurs and humanitarian cases. The refugee program for Cubans has also been suspended, but the Biden administration resumed a family reunification program allowing Cubans to emigrate to the United States legally.
Since taking office, Trump has taken a tough stance on Cuba, reinstating the communist-ruled nation on the list of state sponsors of terrorism after its brief removal during President Joe Biden’s last days in office. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also moved to reinstate sanctions on Cuban military companies and expand visa restrictions to punish foreign government officials involved in Cuban medical missions overseas.
While details remain sketchy on the criteria the administration plans to use, those familiar with the pending travel ban say it is supposedly based on the rationale that the countries that make the list lack the ability to properly perform background checks on individuals traveling to the U.S. In the case of Haitians who came through the Biden-era humanitarian program, several were stopped at the airport in Haiti by police before being allowed to board flights and once in the U.S. were subject to further checks.
Haitian nationals who hold nonimmigrant U.S. visas are also subjected to tightened scrutiny, which has earned the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince the reputation of having one of the highest U.S. visa refusal rates in the region.
In recent years, the embassy also has had limited ability to process visas because of the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago and the ongoing gang violence, which has forced several mandatory evacuations of non-essential embassy staff since 2022. As a result of the disruptions, the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince hasn’t had regular visa services and in 2023, it’s first available opening for a visa appointment wasn’t until 2026. With the exception of a few cases, most Haitians have been unable to renew or apply for U.S. visas for several years.
Further complicating the addition of Haiti to the list is the role of the U.S. in its ongoing operations to fight armed criminal gangs. The U.S. is the lead funder of the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti, supplying weapons and ammunition as well as armored vehicles and other equipment.
At the same time, thousands of U.S. citizens have remained in Haiti providing aid to Haitians in need, which has become increasingly more urgent because gangs have gained territory and the Trump administration has frozen foreign aid.
This story was originally published March 11, 2025 at 7:10 PM.
