The White House has paused all immigration applications from 19 countries and cancelled citizenship ceremonies across the United States, citing national security and public safety concerns. The freeze could affect more than 1.5 million people with pending asylum applications and over 50,000 who received asylum grants under the Biden administration, according to The New York Times.
President Donald Trump is also considering expanding the travel ban to more than 30 countries, as reported by the New York Post. The new policy memorandum, released Tuesday night, references last week's 'terror attack' in Washington D.C., where Afghan man Rahmanullah Lakanwal was arrested for allegedly killing one National Guard member and wounding another.
The ban applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Restricted access applies to people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. The policy halts all immigration-related activities, including a temporary suspension of citizenship ceremonies for legal permanent residents from these countries, per CBS News.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Matthew Tragesser said: 'The Trump administration is making every effort to ensure individuals becoming citizens are the best of the best. Citizenship is a privilege, not a right.' A Department of Homeland Security memo obtained by The Washington Post states that anyone attempting to migrate to the US will need to undergo a thorough re-review process, including potential interviews, to assess national security and public safety threats.
Immigration attorney Todd Pomerleau said the policy will be challenged in court 'before the ink is dry', calling it 'basically allowing for the targeting of people because of their nationality'. Trump has also stepped up rhetoric against Somalis, calling them 'garbage' and declaring 'we don't want them in our country'. Secretary of State Kristi Noem revealed plans for a 'full travel ban' on countries sending 'killers, leeches and entitlement junkies'.
