The United States has imposed visa restrictions on individuals accused of directing, authorising, or supporting violations of religious freedom, with the sanctions also extending where appropriate to their immediate family members.
The new measure, announced yesterday by the U.S. Department of State in a statement titled “Combating Egregious Anti-Christian Violence in Nigeria and Globally,” follows rising concerns over targeted attacks on Christians in Nigeria and other countries. The statement did not reveal the identities of those affected.
According to the State Department, the restrictions issued under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act will apply to persons found to have significantly supported or participated in religious-persecution activities.
“As President Trump made clear, the United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria and numerous other countries,” the statement said, noting that the policy will apply broadly to governments and individuals implicated in violations of religious freedom.
The action comes one month after President Trump designated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) over alleged persecution of Christians an accusation strongly denied by the Federal Government.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, insisted there is no government-backed religious persecution in the country. He argued that violent groups “do not spare any religion,” saying ongoing attacks are driven by criminality rather than state complicity.
Nigeria’s delegation, led by National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, recently travelled to Washington to present evidence countering claims of religious persecution. The government says it has intensified its counter-insurgency operations, including a change in military leadership. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has also skipped recent international summits to supervise national security efforts directly.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress has expanded its inquiry into the situation. Yesterday, leaders of the House Appropriations and Foreign Affairs Committees held a rare joint briefing on what they described as escalating, targeted attacks on Christians in Nigeria.
The session, led by Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.), followed a report ordered by President Trump examining alleged Christian persecution and possible U.S. policy responses. Rep. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.) and Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) are coordinating the congressional review.
Vicky Hartzler, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, told lawmakers that “religious freedom [is] under siege,” citing mass abductions and attacks in which “radical Muslims kill entire Christian villages and burn churches.” She said Christians were being targeted at “a 2.2 to 1 rate” compared with Muslims.
Hartzler acknowledged some recent corrective steps by Nigeria such as reassigning 100,000 police officers previously used for VIP protection but warned that the country was entering a “deeply troubling period” of coordinated violence.
She recommended visa bans, sanctions on officials “demonstrating complicity,” freezing U.S.-based assets, conditioning aid on accountability benchmarks, and efforts to retake villages seized from Christian communities so displaced families can safely return.
