Trump pauses immigration application processing from 19 countries
by Darryl Coote · UPIDec. 3 (UPI) -- The Trump administration on Tuesday announced a pause on immigration application processing for nationals from 19 countries and said it would re-examine immigration and asylum cases approved during the Biden administration.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the hold and review of all pending asylum applications and USCIS benefits applications filed by immigrants from the so-called high-risk countries in a four-page memo on Tuesday.
"USCIS has determined the operational necessity to ensure that all asylum applicants and aliens from high-risk countries of concern who entered the United States do not pose a threat to national security or public safety," the memo said.
Nationals from the 19 countries affected by the immigration halt were already under some form of entry ban. In June, Trump issued a presidential proclamation fully barring nationals from 12 countries from entering the United States and partially restricting entry to those from the other seven nations.
The Trump administration has intensified its crackdown on immigration since last week's shooting in Washington, D.C., which left one National Guard member dead and another in critical condition.
The alleged shooter has been identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an Afghan national who U.S. officials said had worked with the CIA to track down high-value Taliban targets.
He entered the United States during the final stages of the U.S. military's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The Trump administration has widely blamed the previous Biden administration for creating conditions necessitating its crackdown, pointing to crimes allegedly committed by migrants who entered the United States during the four years Biden inhabited the White House.
In the memo, the Trump administration points to Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, an Afghan national, who pleaded guilty in June to plotting an attack on Election Day 2024, and Lakanwal as justification for implementing the immigration measures, including the reviews of those previously admitted to the United States.
While Lakanwal entered the United States amid the withdrawal during the Biden administration, the Trump administration reportedly granted him asylum in April.
"In light of identified concerns and the threat to the American people, USCIS has determined that a comprehensive re-review, potential interview and re-interview of all aliens from high-risk countries of concern who entered the United States on or after January 20, 2021, is necessary," it said.
On Monday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem met with Trump and recommended he implement a full travel ban "on every damn country that's flooding our nation with killers, leeches and entitlement junkies."
Following last week's Washington, D.C., shooting, Trump had similarly called to pause migration from all "third-world countries," an outdated Cold-War term that has come to mean low- and middle-income nations.
"USCIS is committed to safeguarding the American people from public safety and national security threats the Biden administration rubberstamped into the country," USCIS said Tuesday in a social media statement.
"Nothing is off the table until every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible."
The move is expected to attract condemnation from immigration advocacy groups and potential lawsuits.
Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of New York Immigration Coalition, said in a statement that the Trump administration's latest move was part of a strategy to put immigrants on a direct path to deportation.
"Many of those affected have already undergone extensive vetting, often taking years, and arrived in the United States seeking safety, stability and the opportunity to rebuild their lives," Awawdeh said.
"stripping away these legal protections uproots individuals who have worked to establish homes and careers, creating fear and uncertainty for families, while destabilizing entire communities."