Washington — Since the shooting last week Two members of the National Guard In the nation’s capital by a suspect, an Afghan national, the Trump administration announced a series of policies aimed at making it more difficult for some foreigners to enter or remain in the country.
The administration said it had temporarily halted asylum decisions, reconsidered green card applications for people from “concerning” countries, and stopped… Visas for Afghans Which helped the American war effort.
Days before the shooting, a note Obtained by The Associated Press He said the administration will review the cases of all refugees who entered the United States during the Biden administration.
Intensive efforts to restrict migration have been harshly criticized by refugee advocates and those working with Afghans, saying they amount to collective punishment. Critics also say reopening cases that have already been processed is a waste of government resources.
The Trump administration says the new policies are necessary to ensure those entering the country — or those already here — do not pose a security threat.
Here’s a look at the major changes announced in about a week:
Director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Joseph Edlow, said On the social media platform X Last week, asylum decisions will be paused “so that we can ensure that every alien is screened and vetted to the greatest extent possible.”
Besides the post, no official guidance has been provided, so details remain scarce about the planned pause.
Asylum seekers must show US officials the threat of persecution if returned to their home country, whether because of race, nationality or other reasons. If they are granted asylum, they are allowed to remain in the United States and eventually apply for a green card and then citizenship.
The Afghan suspected in the National Guard shooting was granted asylum earlier this year, according to the advocacy group #AfghanEvac.
The right to seek asylum has already been restricted by the Trump administration. In January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order Essentially stopping asylum For people who came into the country via the southern border. These cases generally go through immigration courts overseen by the Department of Justice.
USCIS oversees the asylum process for aliens who the government does not try to remove through immigration courts. While Trump’s January order did not affect those cases, Edlow’s social media post indicates they will now be subject to additional scrutiny. Edlow did not say how long the agency’s pause on asylum decisions will last or what happens to people while those decisions are paused.
Case numbers have been increasing for all types of asylum applications. USCIS said there are currently 1.4 million asylum cases pending at the agency. Just a few years ago, in 2022, the number was 241,280, according to the Bureau of Homeland Security Statistics. Separately, there are about 2.4 million asylum applications pending before the Department of Justice’s immigration courts.
On November 27, Edlo His agency said He was conducting a “thorough and rigorous re-examination” of every green card of people he said came from “every country of concern.”
“American safety is non-negotiable,” Edlow said.
The agency said in Press release on the same day It was issuing new guidance that could make it tougher for people from 19 countries the administration considers “high-risk,” including Afghanistan, when they apply for immigration benefits such as applying for a green card or staying in the United States longer.
The administration had already done so Prohibited travel into the United States for citizens of 12 of those countries and restricting access to people from seven other countries.
Other tougher measures are also being taken against Afghans.
On November 26, USCIS said it would suspend all “immigration applications related to Afghan nationals.” This would affect Afghans already living in the United States who are applying for green cards, work permits, or permission to bring family members to the United States.
Separately, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced late Friday that the State Department had temporarily stopped issuing visas to all people traveling on Afghan passports.
The Trump administration has already imposed severe restrictions on travel and immigration from Afghanistan. The only path that remained open was the Special Immigrant Visa Program. This law, created by Congress, allowed Afghans who closely supported the American war effort in Afghanistan and faced punishment for their work to immigrate to America.
but State Department announcement means Even this road is closed now.
According to #AfghanEvac, a group that advocates for Afghans coming to the United States, about 180,000 Afghans were applying for the special immigration program.
Even before the shooting of two National Guard members, the Trump administration was planning Comprehensive review Tens of thousands of migrants who entered the United States during the Biden administration as part of the US refugee assistance program.
This program, first launched in 1980, oversees the process by which people fleeing persecution can come to the United States. Refugees are different from people seeking asylum, although they meet the same criteria. Refugees must file their applications and wait outside the United States until they are accepted, while asylum seekers do so once they arrive in the United States
Trump suspended the refugee program the day he took office, and only a handful of refugees have been accepted since then, either white South Africans or people accepted as part of a lawsuit seeking to restart the refugee program.
Then on November 21, Edlow said in a memo obtained by The Associated Press that the administration would review all… Acceptance of refugees To the United States during the Biden administration. That is, approximately 200 thousand refugees.
Advocates say refugees are already subject to strict screening.
Late Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem suggested in a post on X that there could be more changes in the near future.
Noting that she had just met with Trump, Noem said she was recommending a “total travel ban” on countries that she said were flooding the United States with “murderers, leeches, and entitlement addicts.”
Noem did not mention any country specifically and no timeline was given. “We will announce the list soon,” the Department of Homeland Security said in an email Monday.