Trump administration halts immigration applications for migrants from 19
travel-ban nations
[December 03, 2025]
By REBECCA SANTANA
WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.
But now the news from USCIS means those people already in the U.S. —
regardless of when they arrived — will come under extra scrutiny.
The agency said it would conduct a comprehensive review of all “approved
benefit requests” for immigrants who entered the country during the
Biden administration.
The agency cited the shooting of two National Guard troops by a suspect
who is an Afghan national as a reason for the pause and heightened
scrutiny for people from those countries. One National Guard soldier was
killed and another wounded in the Thanksgiving week shooting near the
White House.
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Police officers block a street as demonstrators march at a protest
opposing "Operation Midway Blitz" and the presence of ICE, Sept. 9,
2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File)
“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,” the agency said.
The agency said in the Tuesday memo that within 90 days it would
create a prioritized list of immigrants for review and if necessary,
referral to immigration enforcement or other law enforcement
agencies.
Since the shooting, the administration has announced a flurry of
decisions it was taking to scrutinize immigrants already in the
country and those seeking to come to the U.S.
Last week, the director of USCIS said in a social media post that
his agency would be reexamining green card applications for people
from countries “of concern." But the policy directive Tuesday goes
further and lays out in more detail the scope of who will be
affected.
USCIS also said last week that it was pausing all asylum decisions,
and the State Department said it was halting visas for Afghans who
assisted the U.S. war effort.
Days before the shooting, USCIS said in a separate memo that the
administration would review the cases of all refugees who entered
the U.S. during the Biden administration.
Critics have said that the Trump administration's actions have
amounted to collective punishment for immigrants.
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