WASHINGTON, CMC – President Donald Trump, on Tuesday, named Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, and Haiti as countries where citizens from these Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries would either be “fully” restricted or have “limited” entry into the United States.
The measure takes effect on January 1, 2026.
Trump said that during his first administration, he had restricted the entry of certain foreign nationals into the North American country to prevent national security and public safety threats from reaching our borders.
He said the Supreme Court upheld these restrictions and, as a result, he reinstated these successful policies in his January 2025 executive order.
“It is the policy of the United States to protect its citizens from foreign nationals who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security and public safety, incite hate crimes, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes.”
He said in an earlier proclamation that he had restricted the entry of foreign nationals from countries with deficient screening and vetting information to protect the national security and public safety of the United States and its people.
“The proclamation also directed the United States Government to immediately engage countries identified in the proclamation on measures that must be taken to comply with the screening, vetting, immigration, and security requirements of the United States. ”
He said that despite those engagements, most of the countries identified in the earlier proclamation, as well as others, continue to exhibit woeful inadequacies in screening, vetting, and provision of information.
He said that some of these countries have offered Citizenship by Investment (CBI) without residency requirements, which poses challenges for screening and vetting.
Under the CBI programme, several Caribbean countries, including Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica, offer citizenship to foreign investors in return for substantial investment in their socio-economic development.
Trump said both Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica have “historically had CBI without residency” and that the entry into the United States of nationals of these two countries as immigrants, and as nonimmigrants on B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, F, M, and J visas, is hereby suspended.
He said consular officers shall reduce the validity for any other nonimmigrant visa issued to nationals of Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica “to the extent permitted by law.
Trump said in its latest executive order justifying the action taken against the Caribbean countries that “as an example, a foreign national from a country that is subject to travel restrictions could purchase CBI from a second country that is not subject to travel restrictions, obtain a passport in the citizenship of that second country, and subsequently apply for a United States visa for travel to the United States, thus evading the travel restrictions on their first country.
“ Additionally, United States law enforcement and the Department of State have found that, historically, CBI programmes have been susceptible to several risks. These risks include allowing an individual to conceal their identity and assets to circumvent travel restrictions or financial or banking restrictions,” he said.
Trump said as a result of his latest executive order, citizens from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen will be “fully” restricted, as well as have their entry into the US.
He said after accounting for the foreign policy, national security, and counterterrorism objectives of the United States, he has determined to “partially restrict and limit the entry of nationals” of Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d ‘Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
He said these “restrictions distinguish between, but apply to both, the entry of immigrants and nonimmigrants.
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