US pauses all immigration applications from 19 countries
The United States has suspended all immigration applications — including green cards and naturalisation requests — from citizens of 19 non-European countries the Trump administration announced on Tuesday.
marking one of the most sweeping restrictions imposed since President Donald Trump returned to office in January.
The move expands an earlier set of partial travel bans introduced in June and further tightens the administration’s long-running focus on immigration control, a central pillar of Trump’s political agenda. According to an official memorandum, the freeze was triggered by what the White House described as 'urgent national security threats' and 'public safety risks.'
The policy shift comes days after an attack on US National Guard personnel in Washington, where an Afghan national is accused of killing one guard member and critically injuring another. Senior officials cited the incident as evidence of what they called failures in previous vetting procedures.
The administration has also escalated its rhetoric against certain immigrant groups, with Trump characterising Somalis as 'garbage' and declaring 'we don’t want them in our country,' comments that have sparked outrage from civil rights advocates.
Under the new directive, applicants from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen face a complete halt in immigration processing — mirroring the stringent restrictions imposed on these nations in June. Entry to the US from these countries had already been suspended, with only narrow humanitarian or diplomatic exceptions.
The list also includes Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela, whose nationals had been subjected to partial limitations earlier this year. The latest order now covers all immigration requests from these countries, effectively pausing their path to residency or citizenship.
Since taking office, Trump has intensified federal immigration enforcement, deployed agents to several major cities and expanded measures limiting asylum claims at the US-Mexico border. Analysts say the latest suspension signals further tightening ahead of the 2026 election cycle, with the administration expected to unveil additional restrictions in the coming months.
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