U.S. stops visas for Nigerian truck drivers, others, says American lives, livelihoods endangered

President Donald Trump’s administration has stopped the issuance of work visas to Nigerian and other foreign truck drivers in the U.S.

U.S. secretary of state Marco Rubio, in a statement on Thursday, said the suspension of worker visas for the truck drivers would take effect “immediately”.

“Effective immediately, we are pausing all issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers,” Mr Rubio said.

The secretary of state explained that a large number of foreign truck drivers are taking jobs from American truckers, adding that they pose a risk to Americans.

“The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers,” Mr Rubio said.

This comes amid Mr Trump’s clampdown on immigration since his second return to the White House in January 2025.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has moved to impose a $15,000 bond on U.S. visa applications from countries identified for poor databases and high rates of visa overstays under a 12-month pilot programme announced by the State Department recently.

Starting from Wednesday, foreigners seeking to travel to the U.S. for business or tourism purposes must deposit a bond between $5,000 and $15,000 to ensure they depart before their visas expire.

Affected foreign nationals, including individuals who acquired “citizenship by investments without a residency requirement”, will travel from designated airports participating in the programme, the State Department spokesperson said in a statement.

Similarly, the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria mandated full disclosure of social media usernames for all visa applicants to tighten immigration rules under the Trump administration.

“Visa applicants are required to list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last five years on the DS-160 visa application form,” a statement by the embassy said. “Applicants certify that the information in their visa application is true and correct before they sign and submit. Omitting social media information could lead to visa denial and ineligibility for future visas.”