Rep. Nancy Mace introduces invoice to codify Trump journey ban on 39 nations

FIRST ON FOX: One House Republican is shifting ahead with efforts to codify President Donald Trump’s sweeping journey ban on “third-world” international locations.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., will introduce legislation Wednesday that will bar folks from 39 international locations throughout the Caribbean, Middle East and Africa from coming into the United States, Fox News Digital has realized.

Mace’s invoice, titled the Third World Immigration Moratorium Act, would additionally block entry for people touring on Palestinian Authority-issued paperwork.

The South Carolina lawmaker argued her laws, which mirrors the record of nations dealing with full or partial bans underneath the Trump administration, is critical as a result of many immigrants from the affected international locations have didn’t assimilate into American life.

Travelers from Latin America and the Caribbean arrive at Miami International Airport in Miami on Monday as President Donald Trump’s new journey ban takes impact. (Carl Juste/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service through Getty Images)

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“For too long, Washington has looked the other way while bad actors exploited every gap in our system and American families paid the price. Those days are over,” Mace mentioned in a press release obtained by Fox News Digital on her upcoming laws. “If you import the third world, you will become the third world.”

“This bill makes crystal clear: entry into the United States is a privilege, not a right,” she continued. “We make absolutely no apologies for defending it.”

Countries that will face journey restrictions are Afghanistan, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The proposal comes after the Trump administration resurrected a journey ban on 12 international locations in June 2025 after an Egyptian nationwide was charged with finishing up a lethal firebombing assault in Boulder, Colo., on demonstrators calling for the discharge of hostages in Gaza.

Trump later moved to develop the record by greater than double after an Afghan nationwide fatally shot 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, a member of the West Virginia National Guard, and severely injured U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 25, in Washington, D.C., in November.

The president argued the transfer was obligatory to guard nationwide safety and guard in opposition to visa overstays after each perpetrators had been within the nation illegally after overstaying their visas. 

National Guard Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe receives a Purple Heart as President Donald Trump acknowledges him in the course of the State of the Union tackle on the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 24, 2026. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP through Getty Images)

Many of the international locations on the journey ban record are among the many poorest on this planet and have struggled with instability and terrorism.

Iran and Cuba — each longtime U.S. adversaries — are additionally among the many international locations focused by the proposal. 

Mace’s laws would exempt a number of classes of vacationers, together with lawful everlasting residents, twin nationals utilizing passports from international locations not topic to the restrictions, diplomats, NATO personnel, athletes collaborating in main worldwide competitions, particular immigrant visa recipients who assisted U.S. forces, and a few folks fleeing ethnic or non secular persecution in Iran.

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Under Mace’s invoice, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary would possess the authority to grant case-by-case waivers if admitting a person is decided to be within the nation’s “critical interest.”

But the laws is more likely to face an uphill battle within the House amid anticipated opposition from Democrats and a few Republicans who help authorized immigration from a number of of the international locations on her record.

Earlier this 12 months, a handful of Republicans joined Democrats in voting to increase Temporary Protected Status for Haitians regardless of the Trump administration’s opposition. Some Republicans have additionally defended authorized immigration for folks from Cuba, Venezuela and different international locations topic to the journey ban and sometimes used as proxies of different overseas powers.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., departs the U.S. Capitol after a sequence of House votes on March 5, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Mace beforehand launched laws that will bar naturalized residents from serving in many of the federal authorities, together with in Congress and as federal judges.

Wednesday’s laws comes as Mace weighs her political future.

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The Republican firebrand is serving the ultimate months of her House time period after dropping her bid for South Carolina governor earlier this 12 months.

She has floated operating in a fast-approaching major election to succeed the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died unexpectedly late Saturday night.