Trump freezes all immigration applications from 19 countries

In his latest crackdown on immigration, United States President Donald Trump has paused all applications from 19 countries his administration describes as “high-risk”.

The move on Tuesday comes after last week's a shooting in Washington of two National Guard troops by a suspect who is an Afghan national.

Details were outlined in a policy memo posted on the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website, the agency which processes and approves all requests for immigration benefits.

The pause includes for green card requests and US citizenship processing filed by people from nations already facing a partial or full travel ban since June.

All 19 of the countries are non-European and includes Afghanistan and Somalia.

Trump has stepped up rhetoric against Somalis in recent days, calling them “garbage” and saying “we don’t want them in our country.”

The new policy places a hold on pending applications. The USCIS said immigrants from countries on the list must "undergo a thorough re-review process” to determine “all national security and public safety threats".

This applies to “all aliens from high-risk countries of concern who entered the United States on or after January 20, 2021,” the agency said.

It added that within 90 days it would create a prioritised list of people for review and if necessary, referral to immigration enforcement or other law enforcement agencies.

Immigration lawyers on Tuesday reported the cancellations of naturalisation ceremonies and interviews for immigration status, saying people were turned away with no explanation.

The other African countries included are Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, Sudan, Burundi, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

Other nations impacted by the ban are Myanmar, Haiti, Iran, Yemen, Cuba, Laos, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

The changes have already choked off many of the US’ remaining legal immigration pathways.

But analysts suggest the application pause is an indication that Trump’s administration is far from done in its tightening of immigration rules.

Since the shooting, the administration has announced a flurry of decisions it was taking to scrutinise immigrants already in the country and those seeking to come to the US.

Last week, the director of USCIS said in a social media post that his agency would be re-examining green card applications for people from countries “of concern".

But the policy directive Tuesday goes further and lays out in more detail the scope of who will be affected.

USCIS also said last week that it was pausing all asylum decisions, and the State Department said it was halting visas for Afghans who assisted the US war effort.

Days before the shooting, USCIS said in a separate memo that the administration would review the cases of all refugees who entered the U.S. during the Biden administration.

Critics have said that the Trump administration's actions have amounted to collective punishment for immigrants.