Washington: The United States has halted immigration applications, including green cards and citizenship requests, for people from 19 countries already under a Trump-era travel ban, according to a report in the New York Times. Agency officials told the paper that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has ordered a full pause while the administration reviews its vetting procedures.
The freeze affects applicants from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
The move comes days after President Donald Trump vowed to pause all immigration from those countries, citing the shooting of two West Virginia National Guard members in Washington, DC. The alleged gunman, an Afghan man who once worked with the CIA during the US war in Afghanistan, has been charged.
Joseph Edlow, director of USCIS, said on X that asylum decisions are also on hold until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible. Immigrant-rights advocates say the US already runs one of the world’s most stringent screening systems.
Immigration updates◉ According to a Reuters report, an internal memo from the US State Department has laid out new rules for vetting of H-1B visa applicants, saying that anyone involved in "censorship" of free speech should be considered for rejection. ◉ Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback has vowed that if elected, he would eliminate the H-1B visa program, adding that he will fire every H-1B visa holder if he wins the race. ◉ Immigration authorities have launched a targeted operation in New Orleans to arrest immigrants living in the country without legal status. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the operation will focus on individuals with criminal records who were released from local custody ◉ During a cabinet meeting this week, President Donald Trump said he does not want Somali immigrants in the US, telling reporters they should "go back to where they came from" and "their country is no good for a reason". |
