The U.S. State Department will make permanent a visa bond program ‌that could require applicants from 50 countries, mostly from Africa, to post bonds of up to $20,000 when seeking U.S. visas, according to a federal notice posted online on Friday.

The Federal Register notice applies ​to B1 and B2 visas, which are issued for business and tourism ​travel.

“Consular officers may require covered nonimmigrant visa applicants to post ⁠a bond of up to $20,000 as a condition of visa issuance, as determined ​by the consular officers,” the notice said.

“The 2025 visa bond pilot, which provided a ​framework for the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of the Treasury to assess the feasibility of administering a visa bond program, has provided sufficient ​data to suggest that a visa bond program is an effective tool for ​enforcing compliance among bonded visa holders.”

In the pilot program, consular officers could require bonds of $5,000, $10,000 or up ‌to $15,000. ⁠The final rule eliminates the $5,000 option and raises the maximum bond to $20,000.

The final rule goes into effect on August 3 when it is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register. In the list of 50 countries for whose citizens this program applies, ​30 are from ​Africa.

U.S. officials say the ⁠policy is intended to reduce visa overstays. Immigration advocates argue it will deter legitimate travel to the United States.

Rights advocates say ​President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown violates free speech and due ​process, while creating ⁠an unsafe environment for ethnic minorities and encouraging racial profiling. Trump has defended the measures as necessary to bolster national security.

While Trump says he wants to curb illegal immigration, his ⁠administration ​has made legal immigration more difficult, for example, ​by imposing new and expensive fees for applicants of certain visas and by enforcing social media vetting for applicants ​and immigrants already in the country.

Spain says it has brought under control a massive influx of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa, with thousands of those who crossed the border already returning voluntarily to Morocco.

According to Spain’s Interior Ministry, around 50,000 people crossed into Ceuta by land and sea since Thursday morning. Officials estimate that about half of them—roughly 25,000 people—have already gone back.

Moroccan security forces used batons and tear gas to prevent more people from crossing into the Spanish territory. Reuters reporters at the border saw riot police dispersing crowds, while water cannon vehicles were deployed following clashes that left several vehicles burned.

Ceuta’s regional leader, Juan Jesus Vivas, said as many as 60,000 migrants entered the enclave and reported that 34 people had died during the incident. Earlier, Spanish authorities said 19 bodies had been recovered from the water.

The mass crossing has triggered political tensions across Europe. Several European Union leaders called on Spain to contain the situation, while some right-wing parties blamed Spain’s migration policies, including a recent amnesty for hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants.

France announced tighter border checks with Spain, while Italy warned it could seek to suspend Spain from the EU’s passport-free Schengen area.

Spanish military vehicles were deployed along parts of the border as hundreds of migrants remained gathered on the Moroccan side. Many who returned said they were unable to find food or shelter after entering Ceuta.

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A drone strike that sparked fires on two gas vessels in Egypt’s Mediterranean ‌port of Damietta has raised a new threat to shipping through the Suez Canal, one of the last major export routes available to Saudi oil amid the expanding U.S.-Iran war.

No one has claimed responsibility for what Egypt’s cabinet said on Thursday was an unidentified drone that caused a fire on two vessels at Damietta a day earlier. The port lies near the Suez ​Canal, which links the Mediterranean and Red Seas, Reuters reported.

The drone hit the U.S.-owned gas storage tanker Energos Winter, causing a fire that spread to ​a second vessel, people familiar with the incident said.

Iran has denied any involvement in the Damietta strike.

“Egypt is an important ⁠friend and partner in the region, and its security is of utmost importance to us,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on social media. “We must all ​be vigilant against Israeli plots and false-flag operations designed to undermine regional peace.”

The five-month-old war has already brought shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a slender ​chokepoint in the global energy trade, to a virtual standstill.

Before the conflict, the waterway between Oman and Iran carried about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies. The strait has become the main hurdle in peace talks and a flashpoint for repeated escalations in the conflict.

SAUDI PROPOSES MULTINATIONAL MARITIME DEFENCE COALITION

Iran-aligned Houthis on July 20 declared a maritime embargo ​against Saudi Arabia, opening a new front against the U.S. and its allies in the Iran war.

Recent Houthi attacks on shipping prompted London’s marine insurance market ​on Thursday to widen its “high risk” zone in the Red Sea to include more coastline adjacent to Saudi ports.

Saudi Arabia unveiled plans on Thursday for a multinational maritime defence coalition aimed at ‌protecting international ⁠shipping and energy supply routes in the Red Sea region.

The drone strike on the two gas tankers in Egyptian waters has renewed energy security concerns about the nearby Suez Canal and a related pipeline, a vital export route for Saudi Arabian oil since the beginning of the Iran war, say energy analysts.

A growing volume of Saudi oil, along with other shipping, has been diverted north up the Red Sea toward the Suez Canal and the SUMED pipeline, according to data from market intelligence ​firm Kpler. For Asian customers, however, that ​means a longer voyage around Africa ⁠instead of south via the Gulf of Aden.

Oman has presented Iran with a plan backed by Gulf states to manage the Strait of Hormuz, including collecting voluntary fees for using it, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

While Iran has ​publicly rejected the Omani proposal, its semi-official ILNA news agency quoted foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei as saying talks ​with Oman over the ⁠strait were continuing.

IRAQ SAYS IT HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF STRIKES ON SAUDI TARGETS

In a first in the five-month war, Saudi Arabia publicly joined strikes alongside U.S. forces, targeting Iran-aligned groups in eastern Iraq on Wednesday in retaliation for what it said were drone attacks on Saudi oil targets launched from Iraq.

According to assessments by Saudi Arabia ⁠and regional partners ​the Houthis carried out the attacks on Saudi Arabia from Iraqi territory in coordination with Iraqi ​groups.

Iraqi government spokesperson Haider al-Aboudi said on Thursday that Baghdad neither approved nor had prior knowledge of U.S.-Saudi strikes on Iraqi territory, the state news agency reported.

The latest strikes in Iraq and Egypt ​threatened to draw more Middle Eastern countries into the conflict.