This article was prepared with the assistance of ABIL, the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers, of which Loan Huynh is an active member.
After an Afghan asylum recipient shot two National Guardsmen in the District of Columbia, killing one and putting the other in critical condition, President Donald Trump vowed to take additional actions against certain noncitizens who are in the United States or waiting to get in. He called for a halt to asylum decisions, a "permanent pause" on "migration from all Third World Countries," and an indefinite pause on visas for Afghan nationals, along with reviewing those who were admitted under the Biden administration. He also ordered a review of green card holders from 19 countries and threatened other actions, including denaturalizing "migrants who undermine domestic tranquility" and deporting those who are "non-compatible with Western Civilization." He said the goal was "achieving a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations."
Shortly after President Trump's post, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow confirmed that USCIS "has halted all asylum decisions until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible." USCIS officers can still work on asylum applications and review cases but will not approve, deny, or close applications until further notice. He also said that "[a]t the direction of @POTUS, I have directed a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern." The Department of State said the agency has "IMMEDIATELY paused visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passports." According to reports, there are about 265,000 Afghans outside of the United States whose applications were in the pipeline, including approximately 180,000 Afghan applicants for Special Immigrant Visas who had worked for the U.S. government. A cable sent to all diplomatic and consular posts on November 28, 2025, said that consular officers should reject all immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applications from Afghans, effective immediately. Consular officers were told not to give out any visas to Afghans, including those that have already been printed. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, "Effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols. The Trump Administration is also reviewing all asylum cases approved under the Biden Administration."
The 19 countries whose green card holders will undergo a review include Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. USCIS said it "will consider relevant country-specific factors when using its broad discretionary authorities" regarding people from these countries. "Effective immediately, I am issuing new policy guidance that authorizes USCIS officers to consider country-specific factors as significant negative factors when reviewing immigration requests," USCIS Director Edlow said. USCIS said the new policy guidance, "including consideration of country-specific factors such as a country's ability to issue secure identity documents," applies to requests pending or filed on or after November 27, 2025. The guidance notes that country-specific factors "include but are not limited to insufficient vetting and screening information that limits USCIS’ ability to assess the risks posed" by people from the identified countries.
A motive for the shootings has not yet been identified. According to reports, the person who shot the National Guardsmen entered the United States under Operation Allies Welcome in 2021 after he had worked with the United States on counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan. He was vetted along with others who came in via that program. The Trump administration granted him asylum earlier this year. His green card was pending.
Afghans in the United States expressed horror at the shootings. An Afghan community coalition said that "[t]wenty years of Afghan-U.S. partnership must not be forgotten."
