Why the Trump administration is suspending immigration applications from these 19 countries

"The Trump administration is pausing all immigration applications such as requests for green cards for people from 19 countries banned from travel earlier this year, as part of sweeping immigration changes in the wake of the shooting of two National Guard troops.The changes were outlined in a policy memo posted Tuesday on the website of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency tasked with processing and approving all requests for immigration benefits."

"The pause puts on hold a wide range of immigration-related decisions such as green card applications or naturalizations for immigrants from those 19 countries that the Trump administration has described as high-risk. It's up to the agency's director, Joseph Edlow, on when to lift the pause, the memo said.The administration in June banned travel to the U.S. by citizens of 12 countries and restricted access for those from seven others, citing national security concerns."

"The ban applied to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen while the restricted access applied to people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.At the time, no action was taken against immigrants from those countries who were already in the U.S. before the travel ban went into effect."

USCIS has paused processing immigration applications, including green card requests and naturalizations, for nationals of 19 designated countries. The pause applies to a wide range of immigration-related decisions and to previously approved benefit requests for immigrants who entered during the Biden administration. Agency director Joseph Edlow will determine when the pause is lifted. The policy follows a June travel ban that fully barred citizens of 12 countries and restricted access for seven others. USCIS cited the Thanksgiving-week shooting of two National Guard troops by an Afghan national as a reason for the heightened scrutiny and comprehensive reviews.

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