US Lawmaker Labels Three African Nations Security Threats

A Republican congresswoman from South Carolina, Nancy Mace, has announced plans to introduce legislation that would bar immigration from Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan, framing the three African nations as security threats in a move that deepens an already sweeping crackdown on travellers from the continent.

Mace disclosed the proposal on June 25, 2026, saying the bill would protect American communities from the instability and security threats she claimed the three nations bring. In a statement on her official website, the congresswoman described the countries as among the world’s “most dangerous and unstable nations” and tagged them “Third World Hellholes.”

“We will not put the interests of foreign nationals ahead of the safety and security of American citizens,” Mace said. “No more importing instability. No more ignoring the warning signs. No more apologising for putting our country first. America First. Always.”

She argued that the United States should avoid what she called the immigration mistakes of European nations, claiming, “Americans have watched European cities descend into chaos.” Mace added: “We are being systematically invaded and everyone is sitting around watching it happen. Not us. We refuse.”

The proposal does not emerge in isolation. It tracks closely with the hardline posture of President Donald Trump, who during his first term imposed the so called “Muslim travel ban” that restricted entry from several majority Muslim countries, including Somalia and Sudan. In his current term, the restrictions have widened considerably.

On December 16, 2025, Trump signed a proclamation that, from January 1, 2026, maintained full entry restrictions on twelve high risk countries including Somalia and Sudan, and added five more under full restriction: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria. Fifteen additional countries, among them Nigeria, were placed under partial restrictions. By the time the expanded ban took effect, the administration had limited or barred entry for nationals of nearly 20 percent of the world’s countries.

The pressure intensified weeks later. On January 14, 2026, the State Department announced an indefinite suspension of immigrant visa applications for nationals of 75 countries, effective January 21, bringing the total number of African countries facing full or partial restrictions to 39, almost three quarters of the continent’s 54 nations. The same period saw Washington end Temporary Protected Status for about 700 Somalis.

Mace’s three named countries already sit on the restricted list. The December proclamation cited the absence of competent central government authority in Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan, and the refusal of South Sudan to accept deportees, as justification.

The timing is also politically charged. The announcement followed weeks of Mace’s broader campaign against foreign born officials. In May 2026, she proposed barring naturalised citizens from serving in Congress, on the federal judiciary and as Senate confirmed Cabinet members, a move critics including Representative Pramila Jayapal condemned as xenophobic.

For Nigeria, the development is a reminder of its own exposure. Nigerians received an average of 128,000 immigrant and nonimmigrant visas annually over the past decade, nearly all now restricted under the partial ban on Africa’s most populous country.

As of the announcement, Mace’s proposed legislation had yet to be formally introduced in the US Congress, leaving its prospects uncertain in a chamber where similar measures have stalled.