The Trump administration has expanded its travel ban list to include 39 countries effective January 1, 2026. While some countries face a full travel ban, others are partially affected, allowing some exceptions. But a new rule change bans all international adoptions from these 39 countries completely. The administration first imposed a travel ban on 12 countries in 2025. Later that year, the ban grew and the adoption visa exemption was removed. Initially, in June 2025, adoption visas were exempt from the ban. However, the December update no longer mentioned this exemption, effectively suspending adoption visas. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said, "A deeply underreported part of Trump’s latest travel ban is that for unexplained reasons he banned all international ADOPTIONS from the 39 countries. Americans are now banned from adopting babies from Nigeria, Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela, or any of the other countries on the list." He added, "The June travel ban which applied to 19 countries exempted both immediate relatives of US citizens and international adoptions. When Trump expanded the ban last month, he eliminated both of those exceptions, the latter with no explanation." The list of 39 countries includes Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Congo, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria, Cuba, Venezuela, and many more. Travel bans mean adoption visas are also blocked. Exception to the rule could be granted if the Secretary of State or Secretary of Homeland Security decides it is in the national interest. Until then, Americans cannot adopt children from these countries under the new travel ban rules.