Trump Administration Halts Immigration Processing From 19 Countries

The pause affects green cards and citizenship applications, noting ongoing security risks in the aftermath of last week’s National Guard attack in Washington.

Parents await interviews for their children at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) district office in New York City on Jan. 29, 2013. John Moore/Getty Images

The Trump administration announced Tuesday it has suspended the processing of all immigration applications from 19 countries, including Afghanistan and Somalia, citing national security and public safety concerns.

The action comes a week after an Afghan national was arrested for shooting two National Guard soldiers near the White House, killing one and critically wounding the other.

The action includes processing for green cards and U.S. citizenship, according to a memorandum. Nations affected include Myanmar (Burma), Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

The memorandum places a hold on all Forms I-589 (Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal), regardless of the applicant’s country of nationality. It also places hold on pending benefit requests for individuals from the impacted countries, and conducts a comprehensive review of approved benefit requests for aliens from impacted countries who entered the country on or after Jan. 20, 2021.

“This memorandum mandates that all aliens meeting these criteria undergo a thorough re-review process, including a potential interview and, if necessary, a re-interview, to fully assess all national security and public safety threats along with any other related grounds of inadmissibility or ineligibility,” the memo announcing the changes reads.

The policy also follows a partial travel ban implemented in June on a similar list of nations.

The new memo cited the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington last week, where the male Afghan suspect has pleaded not guilty, as an example of public safety and national security concerns.

“Recently, the United States has seen what a lack of screening, vetting, and prioritizing expedient adjudications can do to the American people,” states the memo. “USCIS [United States Citizenship and Immigration Services] plays an instrumental role in preventing terrorists from seeking safe haven in the United States and ensuring that USCIS' screening and vetting and adjudications prioritize the safety of the American people and uphold all U.S. laws.”

The new directive stops ongoing applications and requires immigrants from the targeted countries to be completely re-evaluated.

Border czar Tom Homan has highlighted shortcomings in the screening of Afghans.

“It’s the biggest national security failure in the history of the nation,” Homan told Fox News in an interview on Nov. 30.

Sharvari Dalal-Dheini, who serves as the senior director of government relations for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told Reuters the organization had received details of cancelled oath ceremonies, naturalization interviews, and adjustment of status interviews for individuals from nations named on the travel ban list.

Trump said the pause on asylum decisions might last indefinitely and would target “third world countries,” saying it was necessary for the U.S. immigration system to fully recover.

“We don’t want those people. We have enough problems,” the president told reporters aboard Air Force One on Nov. 30.

“I don’t think they are all third world, but in many cases they are third world. They are not good countries. They are very crime-ridden countries,” he added. “And we frankly, don’t need their people coming into our country telling us what to do.”