by WorldTribune Staff, December 3, 2025 Real World News
The Trump Administration announced on Tuesday it has halted immigration applications from 19 countries that it said are high risk for producing terrorists and other threats to national security.
In a four-page memo, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) directed a hold on green card and citizenship applications as well as requests for benefits “pending a comprehensive review” for the following nations:
Afghanistan, Burma, Burundi, Chad, Cuba, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Yemen.
In a post to Truth Social, President Donald Trump cited the Immigration and Nationality Act, Section 212(f), which states:
“Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.”
USCIS said in the memo issued Tuesday that it “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. USCIS has considered that this direction may result in delay to the adjudication of some pending applications and has weighed that consequence against the urgent need for the agency to ensure that applicants are vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”
USCIS also announced a hold on “all pending asylum applications, regardless of the alien’s country of nationality.”
The memo cited last week’s shooting of two West Virginia National Guard troops in Washington, D.C. by an Afghan national, a former member of a CIA-backed military unit that fought the Taliban.
The suspect, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the U.S. in 2021 under the Biden-Harris regime’s Operation Allies Welcome program, which evacuated and resettled refugees after the botched U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
The Thanksgiving eve attack killed Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and critically injured Andrew Wolfe, 24, not far from the White House.
“Recently, the United States has seen what a lack of screening, vetting, and prioritizing expedient adjudications can do to the American people,” the USCIS memo said.
“USCIS remains committed to ensuring that all aliens from high-risk countries of concern that entered the United States do not present threats to national security or public safety.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on X that she had proposed expanding the number of countries on the restricted list during a meeting with Trump.
“Our forefathers built this nation on blood, sweat, and the unyielding love of freedom — not for foreign invaders to slaughter our heroes, suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars, or snatch the benefits owed to AMERICANS,” Noem wrote. “WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.”
The New York Post reported on Tuesday, citing Trump Administration officials, that the list could expand to 30 countries.
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