Trump Administration Halts Immigration Processing for 19 Non-European Countries Citing Security Concerns

The Trump administration announced Tuesday a suspension of all immigration applications, including green cards and U.S. citizenship processing, for immigrants from 19 non-European countries, citing national security and public safety concerns.

This pause extends restrictions to countries already under a partial travel ban implemented in June, further tightening immigration policies which remain a cornerstone of President Trump's political agenda.

Afghanistan and Somalia are among the 19 affected countries listed in the official memorandum.

The policy references last week's attack on U.S. National Guard members in Washington, where an Afghan national was arrested as a suspect. The attack resulted in one National Guard member's death and left another critically wounded.

President Trump has recently intensified his rhetoric against Somali immigrants, referring to them as "garbage" and stating "we don't want them in our country."

Since beginning his second term in January, Trump has aggressively focused on immigration enforcement, deploying federal agents to major U.S. cities and rejecting asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border. While the administration has frequently highlighted deportation efforts, less emphasis had previously been placed on reshaping legal immigration pathways.

The wave of promised restrictions following the National Guard attack indicates an increased focus on legal immigration framed as protecting national security, while also criticizing former President Joe Biden's immigration policies.

Countries facing the most severe restrictions in the memorandum include Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. These nations were already subjected to comprehensive entry suspensions in June with limited exceptions.

The complete list of 19 countries also includes Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela, which had previously faced partial restrictions.

The new policy temporarily suspends pending applications and requires that all immigrants from listed countries "undergo a thorough re-review process, including a potential interview and, if necessary, a re-interview, to fully assess all national security and public safety threats."

To justify these measures, the memorandum cited several recent crimes allegedly committed by immigrants, including the National Guard attack.

Sharvari Dalal-Dheini, senior director of government relations for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, reported that the organization had received notifications of cancelled oath ceremonies, naturalization interviews, and adjustment of status interviews for individuals from countries affected by the travel ban.