Immigration Frozen From 19 High-Risk Nations, Could Extend to 30

Trump promised stricter screening. Now, the hammer has dropped.

The Trump administration slammed the brakes on immigration Tuesday night, formally freezing applications from 19 countries flagged as high-risk for terrorism and national security threats — just hours after a source told The Post that the list could balloon to 30 countries or more.

In a late-night four-page memo, US Citizenship and Immigration Services ordered an immediate halt on green cards, citizenship applications, and other benefits from those nations “pending a comprehensive review.” The move echoes President Trump’s June 4 proclamation restricting travel from the same 19 countries, a list that spans Afghanistan to Venezuela to Yemen.

USCIS went even further, announcing a freeze on “all pending asylum applications, regardless of the alien’s country of nationality.”

“USCIS has determined that a comprehensive re-review, potential interview, and re-interview of all aliens from high-risk countries of concern who entered the United States on or after January 20, 2021 is necessary,” the memo declared. The agency acknowledged delays but said they are outweighed by “the urgent need… to vet and screen to the maximum degree possible.”

And the trigger for the dramatic move was impossible to ignore.

The memo cited last week’s broad-daylight shooting of two West Virginia National Guard troops near the White House — allegedly carried out by an Afghan national evacuated under the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome program. Prosecutors say 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a former member of a CIA-backed Afghan unit, entered the U.S. legally in 2021, later obtained asylum in April, and was just months away from qualifying for a green card.

The Thanksgiving eve attack left Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, 20, dead, and critically wounded Andrew Wolfe, 24, rattling Washington and resurrecting questions about Biden-era vetting.

The State Department also hit pause on visas for Afghan passport holders — a sweeping stopgap aimed at closing the gaps exposed by the shooting.

“Recently, the United States has seen what a lack of screening, vetting, and prioritizing expedient adjudications can do to the American people,” the USCIS memo read.

“USCIS remains committed to ensuring that all aliens from high-risk countries of concern that entered the United States do not present threats to national security or public safety.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had announced on X that she had proposed expanding the number of countries on the restricted list during a meeting with Trump.

“Our forefathers built this nation on blood, sweat, and the unyielding love of freedom — not for foreign invaders to slaughter our heroes, suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars, or snatch the benefits owed to AMERICANS,” Noem wrote. “WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.”

I just met with the President.

I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.

Our forefathers built this nation on blood, sweat, and the unyielding love of freedom—not for foreign…

— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) December 1, 2025

More over at The New York Post:

Trump freezes immigration applications from 19 countries — and blacklist could expand to more than 30 https://t.co/U3ConxyH4x pic.twitter.com/R7od5oZckR

— New York Post (@nypost) December 3, 2025