Trump halts all immigration applications from 19 countries in wake of DC National Guard shooting
Trump stops immigration applications from 19 countries – here’s why
- The Trump administration has halted all immigration applications from 19 countries previously under travel restrictions, following the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C.
- The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a memorandum mandating a 'comprehensive re-review' and 'adjudicative hold' on all pending asylum and benefit requests from these high-risk nations.
- The decision impacts individuals seeking green cards and U.S. citizenship from countries including Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, among others.
- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem publicly called for a sweeping travel ban on countries she claimed were 'flooding our nation with killers,' a post which the president later shared.
- Immigration lawyers have raised concerns that this pause will significantly worsen existing backlogs, with over a million people already awaiting decisions on their asylum applications.