The White House has paused all immigration applications from 19 countries and canceled citizenship ceremonies across the US, citing national security and public safety concerns.
The freeze could affect more than 1.5 million people who had asylum applications pending and more than 50,000 who received asylum grants under the Biden administration, The New York Times reports.
President Donald Trump is also considering expanding the travel ban to more than 30 countries, according to the New York Post.
The new policy memorandum, released Tuesday night, cites last week’s ‘terror attack’ in D.C. where Afghan man Rahmanullah Lakanwal was arrested for allegedly killing one National Guard member and wounding another.
The ban applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen while the restricted access applied to people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
It puts a stop to all immigration related activities, including a temporary suspension on the completion of citizenship ceremonies, involving legal permanent residents of the 19 countries, per CBS News.
‘The Trump administration is making every effort to ensure individuals becoming citizens are the best of the best. Citizenship is a privilege, not a right,’ said US Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Matthew Tragesser.
Biden’s handlers funded and orchestrated a treasonous invasion of USA. We need even more correction than just this. I believe Trump will do more but has to manage politics and public opinion to be fully successful, hence the measured steps. ABN
American Buddhist Net 