The official memorandum outlining the new policy points to recent crimes suspected to be committed by immigrants, including the deadly attack on US National Guard members in Washington last week. An Afghan man was arrested as a suspect, and Afghanistan is also on the list.

Though all 19 countries targeted were already subjected to a partial travel ban in June. Since returning to office in January, Trump has aggressively prioritized immigration enforcement, in moves that have prompted protests across the country.

He has sent federal agents to major US cities and turned away asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border. His administration has frequently highlighted its push to deport illegal immigrants. But now, the spotlight is on efforts to reshape legal immigration.  Trump promised a flurry of restrictions after the National Guard attack.

“It was a crime against our entire nation”

It suggests an increased focus on legal immigration framed around protecting national security, and casting blame on former President Joe Biden for his policies. Most of the countries targeted were slapped with severe immigration restrictions in June, including Afghanistan, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. While Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela were subjected to partial restrictions.

The new policy places a hold on pending applications, including green card and US citizenship processing. It also orders all immigrants from the list of countries to be “re-reviewed”, which involves “a potential interview and, if necessary, a re-interview, to fully assess all national security and public safety threats.”

–Reuters–