The United States has temporarily suspended the processing of green card, citizenship, and asylum applications for individuals from 19 countries, following a recent security incident involving a foreign national. The move signals a significant tightening of immigration controls under the administration of Donald Trump.
The decision was issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security. According to an internal memo released Tuesday, all pending applications for permanent residency, naturalization, and asylum from the listed nations will remain on hold until further notice.
The expanded immigration review follows the shooting of two National Guard members by an Afghan national. Officials say the escalation in scrutiny is part of broader efforts to reassess national security risks linked to immigration programs.
In June, President Trump announced a sweeping travel ban targeting 12 countries, with partial restrictions imposed on seven more, following a deadly firebombing incident in Colorado. Under the latest directive, authorities will also re-evaluate previously approved immigration cases from affected nations — with some reviews reaching as far back as 2021.
A spokesperson for the DHS stated that the administration is determined to apply the highest level of vetting to all immigration decisions. The official emphasized that U.S. citizenship is considered a privilege and not an entitlement, adding that the government is reviewing immigration approvals granted under the previous administration for applicants from what it now terms “countries of concern.”
Countries Affected by the Application Freeze
The full suspension applies to citizens of:
Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
Partial restrictions also affect individuals from:
Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
Immigrants from all 19 nations are now subject to halted application processing as well as renewed scrutiny of previously approved cases.
Refugee Status Also Under Review
Last month, USCIS announced it would conduct a comprehensive re-review of refugee admissions granted during the previous administration. A separate internal directive revealed that some refugees may be called for fresh interviews and could potentially lose their legal status following reassessment.
This represents a further expansion of the administration’s immigration enforcement measures after the deadly Washington, D.C. shooting involving Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing two National Guard members near the White House just before Thanksgiving. Lakanwal had reportedly received asylum earlier this year after initially entering the U.S. through a humanitarian parole program.
Asylum Processing Paused Indefinitely
In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, confirmed that all asylum applications have been paused indefinitely while the agency works through a backlog exceeding one million cases.
The latest measures mark one of the most extensive immigration processing freezes in recent U.S. history and are expected to affect tens of thousands of legal applicants worldwide.
