Trump Freezes Immigration Applications from 19 “High-Risk” Countries

Green cards, citizenship, and asylum from nearly 20 nations just hit a wall,  and the blacklist might grow past 30.

Here’s what went down 👇

Read this if you’re tracking immigration crackdowns, national-security vetting, or how one memo can upend thousands of lives.

📍 What Just Happened

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) ordered a hold on:

• Green card applications
• Citizenship applications
• Benefit requests

…from 19 countries labeled high-risk for terrorism and national security threats.

It also froze all pending asylum applications, regardless of nationality.

The directive is “pending a comprehensive review” of applicants who entered the U.S. on or after Jan. 20, 2021.

🌍 Who’s on the List (So Far)

The 19 countries include:

Afghanistan, Burma, Burundi, Chad, Cuba, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Yemen.

USCIS warns the list could expand to 30+ countries after further vetting

🩸 The Trigger: A DC Shooting

The memo cites the daylight shooting of two West Virginia National Guard troops in Washington, D.C.

The suspect: Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national evacuated under Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome in 2021.

He was granted asylum in April and was on track for a green card when the attack occurred.

🔥 The Political Rhetoric Around It

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is pushing to expand the restricted list, warning against “foreign invaders” who “slaughter our heroes” and “suck dry our tax dollars.”

Trump blasted Somali immigrants, linking the crackdown to fraud cases in Minnesota and saying: “They contribute nothing. I don’t want them in our country.”

🧠 Why It Matters

For applicants, this isn’t a paperwork delay,  it’s their future on hold: safety, stability, reunification with family.

For policy, it marks a hard pivot away from post-2021 refugee and asylum frameworks, especially for people who came under U.S. programs tied to the Afghanistan withdrawal.

It also sets up a deeper fight over whether security failures are fixed by better vetting,  or by shutting doors to whole countries.