WASHINGTON — The Division of Homeland Safety mentioned Friday night time that it’s looking for to pause 2.2 million pending asylum instances in response to an Afghan asylee’s Thanksgiving eve assault on Nationwide Guard members close to the White Home.
The announcement follows the Trump administration launching a evaluation of greater than 720,000 present green-card holders from 19 “nations of concern” — after Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, fatally gunned down Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and critically injured Andrew Wolfe, 24, close to the White Home.
Lakanwal, evacuated from Afghanistan in 2001 after working with the CIA as a part of a “Zero Unit,” was granted asylum in April — which might have made him eligible for a inexperienced card 12 months later.
The State Division on Friday additionally paused visa issuance for people touring on Afghan passports “within the wake of a horrific terror assault in opposition to the Nationwide Guard.”
“The Trump administration has no increased precedence than making certain the protection of People and has launched a whole-of-government effort to defend America’s nationwide safety,” Tommy Pigott, principal deputy spokesperson, mentioned.
US Citizenship and Immigration Companies Director Joseph Edlow mentioned on X that his company “has halted all asylum selections till we will make sure that each alien is vetted and screened to the utmost diploma doable. The protection of the American folks at all times comes first.”
It was not instantly clear how the pronouncement would impression folks arriving at ports of entry claiming persecution of their homelands, or folks with pending court docket dates earlier than immigration judges, who make selections on their claims.
Edlow beforehand introduced Thursday that “[a]t the path of [Trump], I’ve directed a full scale, rigorous reexamination of each Inexperienced Card for each alien from each nation of concern.”
Trump, who didn’t instantly launch his personal assertion on both growth, wrote Friday that “Solely REVERSE MIGRATION can absolutely remedy this example.”
A senior White Home official informed The Publish that plans for the green-card evaluation particularly are “being labored on,” with the “particulars below dialogue.”
A spokesperson for the Division of Homeland Safety didn’t reply to a request for remark.
It’s unclear if a selected nation shall be prioritized for scrutiny — or if the green-card holders shall be requested to take a seat for interviews.
There are about 12.8 million green-card holders, who achieve their lawful everlasting residency standing by way of employment, humanitarian aid or household ties. Nation-specific info on present standing holders is just not publicly accessible for the 19 nations.
Folks with inexperienced playing cards — which grants the fitting to reside and work within the US — are eligible to use for citizenship after 5 years, although many don’t.
DHS information tracks new annual green-card grants by nationality, permitting for a tough calculation of the inhabitants almost definitely below evaluation.
Of the greater than 720,000 folks with lawful everlasting residency from the 19 nations who gained standing between fiscal years 2021 and 2025, the biggest quantity are from Cuba (335,186), Afghanistan (123,017), Venezuela (73,900), Haiti (49,900) and Iran (35,853).
Conflict-torn nations with present or historic hyperlinks to terrorism are well-represented, together with Yemen (25,457 inexperienced playing cards issued prior to now 5 years), Sudan (12,218), Somalia (6,669) and Libya (2,228).
Others on the green-card evaluation checklist embody Burma (17,126), Burundi (6,323), Chad (838), the Republic of the Congo (2,704), Equatorial Guinea (196), Eritrea (8,094), Laos (2,762), Sierra Leone (7,220), Togo (7,914) and Turkmenistan (2,620).
Some nations have comparatively low charges of citizenship functions after 5 years of residency,
Though fewer than 50,000 Haitians had been granted inexperienced playing cards over the previous 5 years, greater than 210,000 have everlasting residency, as do 550,000 Cubans, regardless of simply 61% arriving prior to now 5 years — the one two nations of the 19 for which present green-card holdings are available.
The actions in opposition to authorized immigration processes observe the president’s aggressive crackdown on unlawful immigration and termination of mass-parole insurance policies of former President Joe Biden.
Southern border crossings surged below Biden, peaking at greater than 301,000 unlawful crossings in December 2024, with a broad array of nationalities, earlier than bottoming out at fewer than 8,000 in July.
Trump vowed on Fact Social to terminate “tens of millions of Biden unlawful admissions … and take away anybody who is just not a internet asset to the USA, or is incapable of loving our nation.”
He mentioned he would “completely pause migration from all Third World International locations to permit the U.S. system to totally get well.”
