Monrovia — Liberia has been named among 36 countries that could soon face new U.S. travel restrictions, according to a classified State Department memo cited by The Washington Post, in what could become an expansion of the Trump-era travel ban.
The memo, reviewed earlier this month by the U.S. daily, outlines a host of immigration and security benchmarks that these countries, including Liberia, are allegedly failing to meet. Chief among them is the issue of widespread U.S. visa overstays–an area in which Liberia has recently drawn sharp attention from Washington.
Liberia’s possible inclusion in the potential travel ban list comes as no surprise to immigration analysts. A U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report published in June 2024 revealed that in Fiscal Year 2022, an alarming 49.48 percent of Liberians issued B-1/B-2 nonimmigrant visas failed to leave the United States at the end of their authorized stay. For nonimmigrant student visa holders, the overstay rate stood at 29.95 percent. Overall, the non-return rate for all Liberian visa categories reached a staggering 82.03 percent–placing the country among the worst performers globally.
This data forms part of the U.S. government’s annual “Entry/Exit Overstay Report,” which monitors compliance by foreign nationals with the terms of their temporary U.S. visas. According to the 2022 findings, Liberia recorded 572 expected air and sea departures, but over half of those travelers remained in the U.S. illegally–qualifying as suspected “in-country overstays.”
The State Department memo cited by The Washington Post does not specify when restrictions could be imposed but makes clear that failure to correct these issues may result in targeted entry bans.
Besides visa overstay concerns, the memo also flags broader structural issues that disqualify countries from U.S. immigration confidence. These include a lack of reliable civil documentation systems, weak government capacity to verify national identities, and a history of document fraud. Some of the countries, it noted, operate citizenship-by-investment schemes that allow individuals to acquire nationality without residency–a potential loophole for illegal migration.
The document further cited reports of antisemitic or anti-American sentiments by nationals from some of the listed countries as a factor influencing policy recommendations. However, it notes that nations willing to accept third-country nationals removed from the U.S., or those willing to enter into “safe third country” agreements, could avoid some of the more severe penalties.
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Liberia, often considered America’s closest traditional ally in Africa, is now facing the consequences of a migration dilemma that U.S. officials say is more legal than diplomatic.
In October 2024, U.S. Ambassador to Liberia Mark C. Toner underscored the severity of the problem. In a radio interview with the state broadcaster ELBC, he confirmed that over 50 percent of Liberians who travel to the U.S. on tourist visas fail to return, adding that this significantly affects the U.S. Embassy’s decision-making process. “It’s just a reality that the overstay rate, which is over 50 percent, has an influence on how officers at the embassy judge the cases,” Toner stated.
While the Ambassador stressed that visa denials are not political, he made it clear that sincerity and adherence to visa terms are critical in maintaining travel privileges. “Liberians, when you travel to the United States, please come back within the period because that’s the only way the calculation can drop,” he urged.
Liberia’s visa rejection rate for 2023/2024 already stood at 78.19 percent, the fourth highest globally, according to U.S. State Department statistics–further reflecting the growing distrust in compliance by Liberian travelers.
For thousands of Liberians aspiring to study, work, or visit relatives in the United States, these developments could dramatically narrow opportunities.
Internationally, the other 35 countries on the U.S. radar include Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Egypt, and Syria, among others–many of them low- and middle-income nations grappling with unstable governments or limited capacity for biometric and identity verification systems.
