By Dan GoodingShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberThe Trump administration halted applications for green cards and U.S. citizenship for thousands of immigrants from 19 countries that were subject to a travel ban earlier this year, it was reported Tuesday.
The move by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), first reported by The New York Times, meant a pause on all immigration applications for those from countries including Venezuela, Haiti, Iran and Afghanistan.
USCIS did not directly confirm whether the pause had taken effect, but a spokesperson told Newsweek that the Trump administration was “reviewing all immigration benefits granted by the Biden administration."
Why It Matters
While President Donald Trump had said Thursday that he would pause all immigration from the respective countries, after an Afghan man allegedly shot two West Virginia National Guard members in Washington, D.C., the previous day, the reported USCIS action widened the net of those affected. USCIS had already announced that all applications from Afghanistan were paused pending a full review.
...What To Know
The move to pause all applications for those from 19 countries already subjected to a travel ban could mean those who have already been heavily vetted for green cards or citizenship will have to wait longer for final approval.
Other immigrants from those countries, including Cubans, Eritreans, Somalis, and Sudanese, may also see applications for work permits, travel documentation, and visa extensions put on hold.
The full list of countries affected is as follows: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
Between fiscal year 2021 and the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, DHS said that about 720,000 green cards were issued to nationals of these 19 countries. A breakdown of new U.S. citizens by country of origin was not available.
An immigration attorney working out of Houston, Texas, reported that USCIS was canceling all scheduled interviews for applicants on her client list from the 19 travel ban countries, many of whom had waited years for their cases to progress.
This, along with efforts to review Afghan refugee approvals under former President Joe Biden, follow the fatal shooting of National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and the critical wounding of Andrew Wolfe, 24, in an attack in Washington, D.C., that authorities say was carried out by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan immigrant who arrived in the U.S. under a resettlement program created after the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The Trump administration has argued that the Biden White House misused refugee and asylum pathways during a period of record migration, particularly along the southern border, although that claim has been disputed by Democrats.
What People Are Saying
A DHS spokesperson told Newsweek: “The Trump Administration is making every effort to ensure individuals becoming citizens are the best of the best. Citizenship is a privilege, not a right. We will take no chances when the future of our nation is at stake. The Trump Administration is reviewing all immigration benefits granted by the Biden administration to aliens from Countries of Concern.”
Ana Maria Schwartz, an immigration attorney based in Houston, Texas, on LinkedIn: “Families and individuals who have waited months or years for their interview dates are suddenly finding their appointments removed from the system with no explanation, no rescheduling, and no guidance on the impact to their filings. This abrupt lack of transparency is causing significant hardship and uncertainty for people who are following every rule and simply seeking a fair process.”
President Donald Trump, in a Truth Social post on Thursday: “I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden's Autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States."
What Happens Next
It was reported Tuesday that the Trump administration plans to expand the travel ban list, as it continues to crack down on immigrants coming to the U.S. legally in the wake of the D.C. attack.
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