The Trump administration is pausing all immigration applications – including those for asylum and green cards – from 19 countries, according to a policy memo from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The policy, outlined in a Tuesday memo, will affect not just those traveling from these countries, but also those from these countries who are already in the U.S.
The memo did not indicate when the hold would be lifted, only that it will “remain in effect until lifted by the USCIS Director through a subsequent memorandum.”
Additionally, USCIS said that “a comprehensive re-review, potential interview, and re-interview” must be conducted for immigrants from these countries who entered the U.S. on or after Jan. 20, 2021 — the day President Joe Biden was inaugurated.
The 19 “high risk” countries, which were already on Trump’s restricted travel list created in June, include Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, Cuba, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Myanmar (Burma), Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and Yemen.
The latest move comes after Afghan evacuee Rahmanullah Lakanwal, named in the memo, was formally charged with shooting two National Guard members in Washington near the White House on the eve of Thanksgiving, killing one and critically injuring the other.
“Recently, the United States has seen what a lack of screening, vetting, and prioritizing expedient adjudications can do to the American people,” the memo says.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called Lakanwal “unvetted” in an NBC News interview Nov. 30.
But Lakanwal was a former member of a special CIA unit who fought the Taliban alongside American forces, which required repeated background checks, according to a senior U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
He also came to the U.S. in 2021 as part of Operation Allies Welcome. That program, designed to support and safely resettle vulnerable Afghans, involved annual vetting by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security — parent agency of USCIS — according to the official.
Lakanwal was granted asylum in April.
Akayla Gardner contributed to this report.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.