A United States House Republican is pushing forward with legislation that would codify President Donald Trump's sweeping travel ban, including restrictions on nationals from Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica. According to Antigua News Room, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., introduced the Third World Immigration Moratorium Act, which would bar travellers from 39 countries across the Caribbean, Middle East and Africa from entering the United States.
Mace's bill would also block entry for individuals travelling on Palestinian Authority-issued documents. The South Carolina lawmaker argued the legislation — which mirrors the list of countries facing full or partial bans under the Trump administration — is necessary because many immigrants from the affected countries have, in her view, failed to assimilate into American life.
"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 said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital. "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."
The full list of countries that would face travel restrictions includes 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 follows the Trump administration's resurrection of a travel ban on 12 countries in June 2025, after an Egyptian national was charged with carrying out a deadly firebombing attack in Boulder, Colorado, on demonstrators calling for the release of hostages in Gaza. Trump subsequently moved to expand the list by more than double after an Afghan national 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 expansion was necessary to protect national security and guard against visa overstays, noting that both perpetrators had remained in the country illegally after overstaying their visas.
Mace's legislation includes exemptions for several categories of travellers, among them lawful permanent residents, dual nationals using passports from non-restricted countries, diplomats, NATO personnel, athletes participating in major international competitions, special immigrant visa recipients who assisted U.S. forces, and some individuals fleeing ethnic or religious persecution in Iran. Under the bill, the Department of Homeland Security secretary would retain the authority to grant case-by-case waivers where admitting an individual is deemed to be in the nation's critical interest.
The legislation is expected to face significant obstacles in the House, with anticipated opposition from Democrats and some Republicans who support legal immigration from several of the listed countries. Earlier this year, a handful of Republicans joined Democrats in voting to extend Temporary Protected Status for Haitians, despite the Trump administration's opposition. Some Republicans have also publicly defended legal immigration from Cuba, Venezuela and other countries on the travel ban list.
Mace previously introduced separate legislation that would bar naturalised citizens from serving in most federal government positions, including Congress and the federal judiciary.
The congresswoman is serving the final months of her House term after losing her bid for the South Carolina governorship earlier this year. She has indicated she may seek the Republican nomination in a primary to succeed the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died unexpectedly last Saturday.
Antigua and Barbuda's Ambassador to the United States has since responded to the proposed legislation. Ambassador Sanders has called on Mace to reconsider the country's inclusion in the bill, stating that the information used to justify it is inaccurate.
