 "The list of countries includes Afghanistan and Somalia. (Reuters)")
The Trump administration on Tuesday announced a pause on all immigration applications, including green card and US citizenship processing, filed by immigrants from 19 non-European countries. Officials said the move was taken in response to concerns over national security and public safety.
The pause affects applicants from countries already facing partial travel restrictions imposed in June, tightening controls on immigration—a central theme of President Donald Trump’s political agenda. The list includes Afghanistan and Somalia.
Policy memo cites national guard attack
The memorandum outlining the change refers to last week’s attack on US National Guard members in Washington, in which an Afghan man has been arrested as a suspect. One member of the National Guard was killed, and another was critically wounded. Trump has also intensified criticism of Somalis in recent days, calling them “garbage” and stating, “We don’t want them in our country.”
Since returning to office in January, Trump has increased immigration enforcement, deploying federal agents to major US cities and turning asylum seekers away at the US-Mexico border. While his administration has frequently highlighted deportations, it had previously placed less emphasis on reshaping legal immigration.
Expanded restrictions follow june travel limits
Following the attack on National Guard members, the administration issued a series of promised restrictions that signal a sharpened focus on legal immigration, framed as a national security measure and linked to criticism of former President Joe Biden’s policies.
Countries subject to the most severe restrictions in June — including Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen — appear again on the list. They faced a full suspension on entries with limited exceptions.
Other nations among the 19 subjected to partial restrictions in June include Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
The new policy freezes pending applications and requires immigrants from the listed countries to “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.”
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View AllThe memorandum references several recent crimes allegedly involving immigrants, including the attack on National Guard members. According to Sharvari Dalal-Dheini of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the organisation has received reports of cancelled oath ceremonies, naturalisation interviews and adjustment of status interviews for individuals from countries included in the travel ban.