Trump Administration Expands Entry Bans to Green Card Holders Over Ebola Fears

The Trump administration announced Friday that it would expand its entry restrictions to include legal permanent residents who have traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan, citing concerns about a rapidly accelerating Ebola epidemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the new policy responds to limited abilities to screen and monitor people who may have been exposed to the deadly virus during the current outbreak.

The announcement represents a significant escalation from earlier this week, when the administration invoked Title 42 public health authority to bar entry for immigrants who had been in the three African nations over the previous 21 days. That initial order exempted U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents, but the new rule would give health officials authority to bar even green card holders "for a limited period of time," according to an interim final rule posted in the Federal Register.

The policy expansion comes as the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo has reached alarming proportions, with health officials estimating 750 people sickened and 177 deaths. Medical experts believe the deadly virus may have been spreading undetected for weeks or months before being identified. Two confirmed cases have now been reported in neighboring Uganda, raising fears about regional spread of the outbreak across Central Africa.

South Sudan, while not reporting confirmed cases in the current outbreak, is considered at high risk due to its shared borders with Congo and Uganda, combined with limited healthcare infrastructure that would struggle to contain an outbreak. The CDC emphasized that American citizens would still be allowed to return to the United States from the affected countries, though some have been transported to European facilities for medical care and monitoring.

The expanded restrictions reflect growing concern within the Trump administration about the potential for Ebola to reach U.S. soil through international travel. One American doctor who developed symptoms after treating an Ebola patient was transported to Germany for medical care along with his wife and four children, while another physician thought to have been exposed was flown to the Czech Republic. The administration's use of Title 42 authority, originally implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrates the government's willingness to use broad public health powers to restrict entry during disease outbreaks.