The Donald Trump administration has announced a pause on all immigration applications, including green card and U.S. citizenship processing, for immigrants from 19 non-European countries, citing concerns over national security and public safety.
The suspension affects people from 19 countries that were already subjected to a partial travel ban in June, imposing further restrictions on immigration, a key feature of Trump’s political platform.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued the four-page directive, ordering a comprehensive re-vetting of every applicant from these nations who entered the United States on or after January 20, 2021. The process may include new interviews or re-interviews as needed.
The countries targeted in Wednesday’s memorandum include Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, which faced the strictest immigration restrictions in June, including a full suspension on entries with limited exceptions.
Additional countries on the list that were subject to partial restrictions in June include Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
Under the new policy, pending applications are put on hold, and all immigrants from the affected countries must “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.”
The official memorandum cites the attack on U.S. National Guard members in Washington last week, in which an Afghan man was arrested as a suspect. One member of the National Guard was killed, and another critically wounded in the shooting.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has aggressively prioritized immigration enforcement, sending federal agents to major U.S. cities and turning away asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border. While his administration has frequently highlighted deportation efforts, it has placed less emphasis on reshaping legal immigration—until now.
