WASHINGTON – Blow to Green card seekers as US government banned 19 nations and their applications swept into a nationwide halt as officials cited urgent security concerns.
For many, the path to a new life in America dimmed overnight over couple of days as Trump administration has abruptly halted every single immigration application including green cards and even U.S. citizenship cases for people from 19 non-European nations, igniting fierce debate and panic among immigrant communities. Officials claim the sudden freeze is driven by “national security and public safety” concerns.
This stunning decision targets the same 19 countries already hit with a partial travel ban in June, marking yet another escalation in President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration strategy. Afghanistan and Somalia are among the most high-profile nations on the list.
The countries now facing the most severe consequences,with full entry suspensions include: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
The remaining countries previously hit with partial restrictions are: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
The administration is pointing to last week’s shocking attack on National Guard members in Washington,where an Afghan man was arrested as a suspect. One guard member was killed and another left critically injured. The memo outlining the new measures directly cites the attack as justification for the crackdown.
POTUS simultaneously unleashed a wave of fiery rhetoric against Somali immigrants, publicly calling them “garbage” and declaring, “we don’t want them in our country.”
Reports of disrupted lives are already emerging. According to Sharvari Dalal-Dheini of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the organization is hearing from affected immigrants whose oath ceremonies, naturalization interviews, and adjustment-of-status appointments were abruptly canceled after the memo dropped.
Afghans face US Visa freeze after deadly Attack on National Guard in Washington
