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By Sam Stevenson
Associate News Editor
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President Donald Trump has vowed to "permanently pause migration" to the United States from "Third World" countries in the wake of the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C.
While it was not clear exactly which nations the President was referring to when he made the comments late Thursday, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has indicated it will be reviewing green cards of people who have immigrated to the U.S. from 19 countries.
When asked which nations would have their citizens’ green cards re-examined, the USCIS pointed to a June proclamation signed by Trump that included Haiti, Iran, Libya, and Afghanistan.
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USCIS director Joseph Edlow said: "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. American lives come first."
Why It Matters
The Trump administration has begun a sweeping review and, in some cases, a freeze of immigration applications and green card approvals following a high-profile shooting near the White House, in which one of the targets, Sarah Beckstrom, 20, was killed and another, Andrew Wolfe, 24, was left fighting for his life.
The incident, which involved a suspect from Afghanistan, has reignited the national debate over vetting of immigrants and the scope of U.S. border and asylum policy.
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What To Know
The Department of Homeland Security’s USCIS will be conducting a "full-scale, rigorous reexamination" of immigrants to the U.S. from "every country of concern," the agency’s director announced Thursday in a post on X.
When asked which countries Edlow was referring to, the USCIS highlighted a proclamation by the White House restricting entry to the United States for nationals from 19 countries, citing concerns over deficient vetting and information sharing, as well as the inability of these governments to provide reliable data on their citizens.
The proclamation states: "Many of these countries have also taken advantage of the United States in their exploitation of our visa system and their historic failure to accept back their removable nationals."
Full List of Countries Facing Green Card Reviews
The following countries have been identified as having deficiencies in their screening processes and posing "significant risks of overstaying their visas in the United States."
- Afghanistan
- Myanmar (Burma)
- Chad
- Republic of the Congo
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Haiti
- Iran
- Libya
- Somalia
- Sudan
- Yemen
- Burundi
- Cuba
- Laos
- Sierra Leone
- Togo
- Turkmenistan
- Venezuela
Full suspension of entry now applies to nationals from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
Partial restrictions affect Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela, with tightened visa criteria and limited durations.
Exact details on the application of these suspensions—particularly case-by-case waivers and categorical exceptions—remain limited.
How Many Green Card Holders Could Be Affected?
Immigration data suggests that roughly 3.3 million lawful permanent residents (green card holders) in the United States come from the 19 countries flagged for review. These nations include Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Venezuela, Afghanistan, and others identified in the directive. While the total green card population in the U.S. is about 12.8 million, this subset represents a significant proportion of immigrants who have lived and worked legally in the country for years.
The largest groups among these countries are from Cuba (over 1 million), Haiti (around 700,000), Iran (approximately 400,000), and Venezuela (about 500,000). Smaller communities from nations such as Eritrea, Sudan, and Myanmar also fall under the review. These figures are based on Department of Homeland Security estimates and recent immigration flow data, and they highlight the potential scale of the policy’s impact on families, businesses, and communities nationwide.
What People Are Saying
Trump said: "I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden's Autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States."
Joseph Edlow, director of the USCIS, said: "The protection of this country and of the American people remains paramount, and the American people will not bear the cost of the prior administration’s reckless resettlement policies. American safety is non-negotiable."
He added in a new statement Friday: “My primary responsibility is to ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.
"This includes an assessment of where they are coming from and why. Yesterday’s horrific events make it abundantly clear that the Biden administration spent the last four years dismantling basic vetting and screening standards, prioritizing the rapid resettlement of aliens from high-risk countries over the safety of American citizens. The Trump administration takes the opposite approach."
A review of academic work in the Annual Review of Criminology has disputed claims that immigrants are more likely to commit crimes than U.S. residents. It says: "With few exceptions, studies conducted at both the aggregate and individual levels demonstrate that high concentrations of immigrants are not associated with increased levels of crime and delinquency across neighborhoods and cities in the United States."
What Happens Next
Applicants from the named countries who are already in the final stages of green card processing have been assured that the proclamation "shall not apply to an individual who has been granted asylum by the United States, to a refugee who has already been admitted to the United States, or to an individual granted withholding of removal or protection under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment (CAT)."
It adds: "Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to limit the ability of an individual to seek asylum, refugee status, withholding of removal, or protection under the CAT, consistent with the laws of the United States."
The future for affected migrants remains uncertain as security agencies conduct further assessments. Trump's directives could impact thousands of families and reshape long-standing U.S. immigration programs, setting new precedents for both permanent residency and asylum pathways.
Update 11/28/25, 8.30 am ET. This article was updated with a new USCIS statement.
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