The expanded list includes key U.S. allies such as Egypt and Djibouti, The Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing a credible internal memo signed by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

If approved, the proposal would mark one of the largest travel-based restrictions in U.S. history, and follow an earlier executive order that targeted 19 countries, most of them in Africa and the Middle East.

The recent memo was distributed to American embassies over the weekend. It instructs governments of the listed countries to submit initial action plans by Wednesday morning and outlines a 60-day window to meet a series of enhanced vetting and cooperation benchmarks.

The targeted countries face scrutiny due to various issues, including weak identity documentation systems, high visa overstay rates in the U.S., lack of cooperation on deportations, and in some cases, the sale of citizenships with minimal requirements. It also mentions concerns about “anti-American or antisemitic activity” linked to individuals from certain nations.

The nations facing new restrictions are Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Additional nations in the Caribbean, Asia, and the Pacific, including Kyrgyzstan, Bhutan, Cambodia, Dominica, Tonga, and Tuvalu, are also named in the memo.

The proposal builds on Trump’s recent Executive Order 14161, which imposed full travel bans on countries including Somalia, Sudan, Chad, Eritrea, Libya, the Republic of the Congo, and Equatorial Guinea, while partially restricting Burundi, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Other countries affected include Afghanistan, Haiti, Iran, and Venezuela.

The policy has already sparked backlash from Democratic lawmakers and civil rights groups, who accuse the administration of disproportionately targeting African and Muslim-majority nations.

Many have drawn comparisons to Trump’s first-term travel ban, which was eventually upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court but remains controversial to this day.

President Donald Trump is seeking to expand his administration’s travel ban, with a proposal that could impose new visa restrictions on citizens from 36 countries, including 25 African nations.