A policy memorandum on Tuesday directed the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to “place on hold,” effective immediately, all asylum applications, regardless of the immigrant’s country of nationality, pending a comprehensive review. The directive also places on hold all applications for Green Cards, US citizenship requests, and other immigration applications for immigrants from the 19 countries on which the Trump administration had placed a travel ban and are considered “countries of concern” by the White House.
These countries are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Burundi, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Yemen. The applications will be on hold “pending a comprehensive review, regardless of entry date,” the directive said. These are the same countries that were subject to a travel ban announced by US President Donald Trump in a proclamation issued in June this year.
The new guidance came in the wake of the tragic shooting of US Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and US Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, by Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal.