President Donald Trump ordered a sweeping review of green card holders from what his administration calls “countries of concern,” the head of US Citizenship and Immigration Services said on Thursday, directing the agency to reassess vetting procedures for permanent residents from those nations.
The Trump administration announced Thursday that it would review the immigration status of every permanent resident or “Green Card” holder from Afghanistan and 18 other countries following the attack on National Guard troops in Washington.
US officials have identified the detained suspect in Wednesday’s shooting as an Afghan national who previously worked with American forces in Afghanistan.
The 29-year-old suspect was granted asylum – not permanent residency – in April this year, according to AfghanEvac, a group that helped resettle Afghans in the United States after the 2021 Taliban takeover.
“I have directed a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern,” said Joseph Edlow, director of the US Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS), on X.
When asked to specify to which countries Edlow was referring, a USCIS spokesperson pointed AFP to US President Donald Trump‘s June executive order classifying 19 countries as “of Identified Concern.”
The order banned the entry of almost all nationals from 12 of the countries, including Afghanistan.
The 11 other countries facing a travel ban were: Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Trump also imposed a partial ban on travellers from seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Some temporary work visas from those countries are allowed.
Written with agency reports
