The Trump administration is pausing immigration applications, including visas, green cards, citizenship, and asylum, for people from 20 more nations, largely in Africa.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services made the announcement in a memo released Thursday and said it also plans to again review applications of immigrants from these countries as far back as 2021.
"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 as rational for the pause and reviews.
"To faithfully uphold United States immigration law, the flow of aliens from countries with high overstay rates, significant fraud, or both must stop."
As of early 2026, the U.S. has travel restrictions in place that affect 39 countries. meaning citizens from those nations face full or partial bans on entering the United States under the latest expanded policy that took effect Jan. 1.
The move comes three days after Mali and Burkina Faso said they would ban U.S. citizens from entering their countries in response to President Donald Trump's decision to ban Malian and Burkinabé citizens from entering the United States.
The announcements, made in separate statements by the foreign ministers of the two West African countries, marked the latest twist in the frosty relationship between West African military governments and the U.S.
On Dec. 16, Trump expanded earlier travel restrictions to 20 more countries, including Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, which are run by juntas and have formed a breakaway association from the Economic Community of West African States, a regional bloc.
The White House noted persistent attacks by armed groups as one of the reasons for the travel ban.
Mali and Burkina Faso have struggled to contain armed groups that have spread rapidly in both countries. The juntas vowed to fight the armed groups after deposing civilian governments over the insecurity that has roiled much of the region.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.