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The American government has paused all immigration applications from 19 countries and canceled citizenship ceremonies across the US, citing national security and public safety concerns.
The New York Times reports that the freeze could affect more than 1.5 million people who had asylum applications pending and more than 50,000 who received asylum grants under the Biden administration.
President Donald Trump is also considering expanding the travel ban to more than 30 countries, according to the New York Post.
The new policy memorandum cites last week’s ‘terror attack’ in 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, while the restricted access applies to people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
It puts a stop to all immigration related activities, including a temporary suspension on the completion of citizenship ceremonies, involving legal permanent residents of the 19 countries, per CBS News.
‘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,’ US Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Matthew Tragesser.
‘We will take no chances when the future of our nation is at stake.’
According to a Department of Homeland Security memo obtained by The Washington Post, anyone attempting to migrate to the US will need to be vetted again.
‘This memorandum mandates that all aliens meeting these criteria 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,’ it states.
It also allows DHS to potentially block applicants using a broad definition of ‘inadmissibility or ineligibility.’
