USCIS freezes immigration requests from 19 countries after National Guard shooting

Published December 3, 2025 9:28am ET



U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services decided to freeze pending immigration requests from 19 countries that the Trump administration deems “high risk” for national security reasons after an Afghan national critically shot two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., last week.

In a four-page memo issued Tuesday, the immigration and naturalization agency said all benefit applications filed by foreign nationals from 19 high-risk countries, including Afghanistan, are placed on hold until further notice. All asylum applications, regardless of the applicant’s country of nationality, are also paused indefinitely.

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