- Pause applies to countries that are already subject to a partial travel ban.
- Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen face restrictions.
- The policy mandates immigrants to undergo a thorough reassessment process.
The Trump administration has said it has paused all immigration applications, including green card and U.S. citizenship processing, filed by immigrants from 19 non-European countries, citing national security and public safety concerns.
The pause applies to people from 19 countries that were already subject to a partial travel ban in June, putting further restrictions on immigration – a core element of US President Donald Trump’s policy platform.
The list of countries includes Afghanistan and Somalia.
The official memorandum outlining the new policy cites the attack on members of the US National Guard in Washington last week, in which an Afghan man has been arrested as a suspect. One member of the National Guard was killed and another was critically wounded in the shooting.
Trump has also sharpened his rhetoric against Somalis in recent days, calling them “garbage” and saying “we don’t want them in our country”.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has aggressively prioritized immigration enforcement, sending federal agents to major US cities and turning away asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border.
His administration has often highlighted the deportation push, but until now has placed less emphasis on efforts to reshape legal immigration.
The spate of promised restrictions since the attack on members of the National Guard suggests an increased focus on legal immigration framed around protecting national security and blaming former President Joe Biden for his policies.
The list of countries targeted in Wednesday’s memorandum includes Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, which faced the strictest immigration restrictions in June, including a full suspension of entry with few exceptions.
Others on the list of 19 countries that faced partial restrictions in June are Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
The new policy puts an end to pending applications and mandates that all immigrants from the list of countries “undergo a thorough reassessment process, including a potential interview and, if necessary, a reinterview, to fully assess all threats to national security and public safety.”
The memorandum cited several recent crimes suspected of being committed by immigrants, including the National Guard attack.
Sharvari Dalal-Dheini, senior director of government relations for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said the organization had received reports of canceled swearing-in ceremonies, naturalization interviews and adjustment of status interviews for people from countries listed on the travel ban.
