Washington is set to subject all green cards previously issued to immigrants from 19 designated “countries of concern” to a sweeping reexamination, following President Donald Trump’s directive in the wake of the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C.
Joe Edlow, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services,USCIS,announced the measure on Thursday, stressing the need for a “full scale, rigorous reexamination” of every green card holder from the specified nations.
The countries listed in a June presidential proclamation 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 stated that its vetting process for immigrants from these countries will now factor in “negative, country-specific” conditions, such as the ability of those nations to issue secure identity documents.
This heightened scrutiny follows the identification of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national, as the suspect in Wednesday’s shooting. Lakanwal entered the U.S. in 2021 through Biden’s “Operation Allies Welcome,” a program created to resettle Afghans who assisted American forces.
He applied for asylum in 2024 and was granted protection in April 2025 under the current administration.
The Department of Homeland Security,DHS, announced additional actions on Thursday, halting all immigration requests involving Afghan nationals “indefinitely” while officials reassess national security and vetting procedures.
DHS also confirmed that it is reviewing all asylum approvals issued during President Biden’s tenure.
READ ALSO: Trump threatens US lawmakers with death penalty
In a late-night video address from Mar-a-Lago, Trump insisted the shooting demonstrates what he calls the nation’s most urgent national security threat.
He vowed to “permanently pause migration from all Third World countries” to ease pressure on U.S. systems, though he did not specify which nations he was referencing.
He further pledged to revoke federal benefits for noncitizens, denaturalize individuals deemed to undermine domestic stability, and remove any foreign national seen as a public charge or security risk.
Trump also criticized what he described as “millions of Biden illegal admissions,” promising to invalidate entries he claimed were approved under Biden’s autopen.
The Alliance of Afghan Communities in the United States condemned the shooting but urged federal agencies not to allow one individual’s actions to disrupt legal immigration pathways for thousands of Afghans who have met all requirements.
The group emphasized that many Afghans resettled in the U.S. supported American military efforts during the war and remain committed to lawful integration.
More than 190,000 Afghans have resettled in the U.S. since the military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
The administration’s latest directive marks a significant escalation in its immigration enforcement strategy, adding pressure to long-standing debates over national security, humanitarian obligations, and the future of America’s immigration system.
CNN Politics
