Dominican Citizens Among Those Facing US Travel Ban

Dominica is one of 36 additional countries being considered by the Trump administration to restrict entry of its citizens into the United States, under an expansion of Trump’s travel ban.

The information was reported by the Washington Post in which the newspaper claims to have seen a copy of the State Department memo issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and sent to US diplomats in the affected countries on Saturday.

According to the Washington Post, the new list of countries includes four of the five islands involved in citizenship by investment programs in the Caribbean and 25 African countries. The proposed travel ban includes Dominica, St Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, and St Kitts and Nevis.

Governments of the 36 countries have been given 60 days to meet new benchmarks and requirements established by the State Department. It also set a deadline of 8 a.m. Wednesday 18^th June 2025 for them to provide an initial action plan for meeting the requirements.

In March the New York Times revealed that security experts were recommending to the Trump administration that countries be placed into three different categories — red, orange and yellow.

Those in the red list would face an immediate ban, while the other two lists of countries would face various degrees of visa restrictions. At the time Dominica was said to be in the yellow list, which would have 60 days to address deficiency concerns or risk being moved to another category. It now appears that the administration has moved on the recommendations.

The US government has repeatedly announced its disapproval of citizenship by investment programs in the Caribbean noting that not enough due diligence is conducted and that the program in its current form seriously compromises the security of some countries.

In the memo released by the US government it decries the availability of citizenship by monetary investment without a requirement of residency, inadequate security practices for issuing passports, and selling citizenship to people from banned countries.

It is not clear how soon after the expiry of the sixty-day ultimatum the ban will take effect if countries fail to act.

The full list of countries listed in the memo are: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Saint Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, South Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tonga, Tuvala, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia; and Zimbabwe.

In early June President Trump signed an executive order placing a total travel ban on citizens from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The entry of people from seven other countries - Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela were also partially restricted