In a sweeping overhaul of US immigration policy, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Tuesday that it is pausing all immigration applications submitted by nationals of 19 non-European countries. The freeze includes green-card applications, naturalisation petitions, and asylum filings, even for cases already under review.
The affected countries–previously subject to a travel ban or restricted entry–include: Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
Crucially for many foreign nationals watching from abroad, Pakistan is not among those 19 countries. That means, under this new policy, Pakistani immigrants are not subject to the new blanket freeze.
The dramatic policy shift comes after a fatal shooting outside the White House last week, in which a member of the National Guard was killed and another seriously wounded. Authorities have identified the suspect as an Afghan national. Rahmanullah Lakanwal had worked with the CIA for over a decade in Afghanistan before the US military’s withdrawal in 2021. His collaboration led to his arrival in the US through Operation Allies Welcome, a program that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of vulnerable Afghans.
Another Afghan national, Mohammad Dawood Alokozay, accused of threatening to carry out a suicide attack and build a bomb on a social media post, has been formally charged in federal court in Fort Worth, Texas.
In a post on X, USCIS director Joseph B Edlow said the agency has “halted all asylum decisions until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”
All pending and future applications from the 19 countries will be placed on “adjudicative hold,” with new interviews and re-assessment of security credentials.
According to a spokesperson of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the move reflects the administration’s commitment to “ensuring individuals becoming citizens are the best of the best.”
The consequences have been swift for many immigrants. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has reported how numerous scheduled naturalisation interviews, citizenship ceremonies, green-card adjudications, and asylum hearings have already been postponed or cancelled.
Analysts warn that thousands of legal permanent residents and asylum seekers from the 19 countries now find themselves stuck in indefinite limbo–their applications suspended their futures uncertain.
One legal expert, former USCIS official Michael Valverde, told CBS News that the agency had previously enacted “tactical” pauses if it felt the need for additional vetting.
“The difference is this is for a large group of individuals and in every category of immigration benefit,” he added.