US Pauses Immigration Applications From 19 Nations
New Delhi: The Trump administration has paused immigration applications for nationals from 19 countries that already faced travel restrictions to the US, a memo from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) showed.
The affected countries include Iran, Sudan, Eritrea, Haiti, Somalia, Venezuela and several other low-income or conflict-affected countries. Indian nationals will not be affected by this move.
The four-page memo came days after an Afghan national, who was granted asylum during Donald Trump’s presidency, shot two national guards in Washington DC.
"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," the memo said.
The pause will apply to both green card and citizenship applicants, reports say. According to USCIS, the move could impact over 1.4 million applicants.
In June, Trump had signed a proclamation banning nationals from 12 countries — among them Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen — from entering the United States and partially restricting the entry of nationals from seven others: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
‘Flooding our nation with leeches’
A spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security said that the Trump administration is “making every effort to ensure individuals becoming citizens are the best of the best,” adding that “Citizenship is a privilege, not a right. We will take no chances when the future of our nation is at stake.”
USCIS Director Joseph Edlow told US media on Monday that he believed that Afghan nationals who came to the US after its withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 had not been properly vetted.
“Nothing is off the table until every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible,” his office said.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in a post on X said that she had recommended a full travel ban “on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies."
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