In a major crackdown on immigrants, the Trump administration on Tuesday halted all immigration applications filed by 19 countries that were already facing restrictions on travel to the United States. Citing concerns over national security, the Republican President halted green card and US citizenship processing of 19 non-European nations.

People from Iran, Sudan, Eritrea, Haiti, Somalia, and others, seeking status from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services were banned by Donald Trump in June. The list includes some of the poorest and unstable countries in the world.

New Policy Cites Attack On Two US National Guard Members

The pause applies to countries, including Somalia and Afghanistan. An official memorandum underscoring the new policy cites the attack on two National Guard members in Washington DC on November 27, in which an Afghan man was arrested as a suspect. One member of the National Guard, Sarah Beckstrom (20), was killed, while another member, Andrew Wolfe (24), was critically wounded in the shooting.

Trump has recently intensified his rhetoric against Somalis, calling them “garbage.” Since returning to the office in January, the US President has aggressively focused on enforcing immigration laws, sending federal agents to major American cities, and rejecting asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border. The attack on National Guard members has set the stage for him to prioritize legal immigration and blame former President Joe Biden for his policies.

List of Countries Affected

The US has halted immigration applications from Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Cuba, Laos, Togo, Libya, Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Sierra Leone, the Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Turkmenistan, Burundi, and Venezuela.

Besides placing a hold on pending applications, the new policy mandates that all immigrants to “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,” ET reported.