US stops all immigration applications from 19 countries

(CLO) The US has suspended all immigration from 19 countries, a significant escalation in the country's already tough immigration policy.

The Trump administration has stopped accepting immigration applications from citizens of 19 countries that already face travel restrictions to the United States, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Tuesday.

“USCIS has considered that this directive may result in delays in the processing of some pending applications and has weighed that consequence against the agency’s urgent need to ensure that applicants are assessed and screened to the maximum extent possible,” the agency said in a four-page policy notice.

US President Donald Trump. Photo: White House

The event that led directly to this massive immigration ban was a recent shooting in Washington, DC, involving an Afghan man who allegedly shot two members of the US National Guard, leaving one dead and the other in critical condition.

Following this incident, President Donald Trump announced that he would suspend all immigration from the affected countries.

The freeze expands on a travel ban that began in June, affecting applications that have undergone years of vetting and are nearing approval. The list of 19 countries includes Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

On social media X, USCIS Director Joseph Edlow made the agency's stance clear, stating that "asylum decisions are also paused until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the fullest extent possible."

Along with the USCIS move, Secretary of State Marco Rubio also announced an additional measure, announcing a temporary suspension of visa issuance to anyone traveling on an Afghan passport.

This is a step in the Trump administration's increasingly hardline stance on immigration, which includes permanently halting migration from poor countries, deporting millions of people living legally, and implementing a policy of "reverse migration."

Source: https://congluan.vn/my-dung-tat-ca-don-xin-nhap-cu-tu-19-quoc-gia-10320176.html