The Trump administration is pausing all immigration applications from countries considered “high-risk” in the wake of a shooting of two National Guard members.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is immediately halting immigration and naturalization processes for foreign nationals from 19 countries previously identified by the White House to be high-risk, according to a memo released by the agency late Tuesday. The new guidance not only pumps the brakes on green card and U.S. citizenship applications for migrants from these countries, but also calls for a review of applications previously approved under the Biden administration.
“Recently, the United States has seen what a lack of screening, vetting, and prioritizing expedient adjudications can do to the American people,” the memo stated. “In light of identified concerns and the threat to the American people, USCIS has determined that a comprehensive re-review, potential interview, and re-interview of all aliens from high-risk countries of concern who entered the United States on or after January 20, 2021 is necessary.”
The memo cited the arrest of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national accused of shooting two National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., shortly before Thanksgiving, and the 2024 arrest of Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, another Afghan national who is accused of plotting an Election Day terrorist attack. Both men were admitted into the U.S. amid the Biden administration’s chaotic military withdrawal from the country.
The “high-risk” countries include Afghanistan, Burma, Republic of Congo, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Libya, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Togo, Sierra Leone, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
In addition to halting immigration processes for the blacklisted countries, USCIS is also dramatically restricting asylum applications for all foreigners.
“To address vulnerabilities during this process, and in order to conduct a comprehensive review of all policies, procedures, and guidance, USCIS has determined that it must implement an adjudicative hold on all pending asylum applications, regardless of the alien’s country of nationality,” the USCIS memo stated.
This pause will remain in effect at the discretion of USCIS Director Joe Edlow, according to the memo.
The moves are just the latest in the Trump administration’s intensified immigration crackdown since the November attack in Washington, D.C., which took the life of West Virginia Army National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and left Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe in critical condition.
Just hours after the deadly shooting, USCIS, which manages the country’s legal immigration system, declared the processing of all immigration requests pertaining to Afghan nationals to be “stopped indefinitely.” Edlow subsequently declared that he’d been directed by President Donald Trump to initiate a “full scale” re-examination of every single green card for foreign nationals hailing from countries of concern.
President Donald Trump himself has vowed to implement even tougher measures, announcing that his administration would “permanently pause” immigration from Third World countries.
“I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries [sic] to allow the U.S. system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden’s Autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country,” the president said in a Truth Social post in late November.
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