Trump administration tightens immigration, 19 countries cut off

In a continuation of its intensified crackdown on immigration, the U.S. has imposed a ban on admitting immigrants from 19 nations.

According to The New York Times, U.S. government officials stated that the administration of Donald Trump has suspended immigration requests from 19 countries whose citizens’ travel to the U.S. was restricted earlier this year, effectively halting the processing of green cards and U.S. citizenship for a large segment of people.

USCIS referred to these countries as “countries of concern.” The 19 countries include Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

Matthew Tregser, spokesperson for USCIS, confirmed the suspension on Tuesday and claimed: “When the future of our nation is at risk, we will take no chances.”

The directive follows a shooting incident a few days ago targeting two National Guard members in Washington, D.C.; in the incident, one soldier was killed and another severely injured. The suspect, identified as an Afghan national, had previously collaborated with the U.S. military in Afghanistan and was resettled in Washington state under former President Joe Biden’s administration.

The Senior Director of Government Relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) stated that the organization has received reports of canceled oath ceremonies, citizenship interviews, and adjustment-of-status interviews for individuals from the countries on the travel ban list.

Immigration attorneys reported that interviews for immigration status have been canceled, leaving applicants confused as they were turned away from green card and other benefit interviews on Tuesday without explanation.

One immigration lawyer in Texas said that two of their clients, upon arriving at the USCIS field office in Houston, found that their interviews had been canceled without any specific reason.

They added that other attorneys have reported that applicants who had been waiting months, sometimes years, for their interviews suddenly discovered that their appointments were removed from the system with no guidance on how to proceed. This disruption places additional pressure on a system already struggling with significant backlogs.

The Texas lawyer warned: “Everything is at a standstill; it’s like a traffic jam, and it will only get worse and worse.”

An immigration attorney in Tennessee said: “Through our immigration attorney network, we have heard of multiple instances of canceled interviews.”

Officials in the Trump administration have recently announced wide-ranging changes to the immigration system, including reviewing green cards issued to individuals from restricted countries, halting asylum decisions, and reassessing asylum benefits granted during the Biden administration.

Officials from the Department of Homeland Security have deemed these major changes necessary to increase scrutiny of individuals currently residing in the U.S.

The new regulations announced last week in the U.S. could affect more than 1.5 million people.

In recent days, Trump has escalated his rhetoric against Somalis, calling them “garbage” and claiming, “We don’t want them in our country.”

Since returning to power in January, he has prioritized strict enforcement of immigration laws, deployed federal agents to major U.S. cities, and turned away asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Although the Trump administration emphasizes efforts to deport immigrants, it has so far placed less focus on changing the legal immigration system itself.