The United States is weighing whether to expand its travel ban to include more than 30 countries, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Friday.

Speaking to Fox News, Noem declined to name specific nations but stressed that President Donald Trump is reviewing the list and assessing which countries lack stable governments or the ability to properly vet travellers.

Earlier this week, Noem urged a “full travel ban” on countries she claimed were sending “killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies” to the US.

The debate has intensified following Trump’s Nov. 28 threat to permanently halt migration from so-called “third-world countries.”

The controversy escalated after a Nov. 26 shooting near the White House, which left one National Guard member dead and another injured.

The suspect, a 29-year-old Afghan asylum recipient who arrived in 2021 after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, had previously worked with several US agencies, including the CIA, according to media reports.

The incident led to an immediate pause on new Afghan visas and asylum cases.

It also renewed scrutiny of a June executive order restricting entry from 19 countries over vetting problems, visa overstays and refusal of deportation requests.