The Trump administration has imposed an immediate hold on all pending asylum applications and suspended processing of immigration benefits for nationals from 19 countries designated as high-risk threats to national security.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued the directive December 2 through Policy Memorandum PM-602-0192, affecting more than 1.4 million pending asylum applications. Every Form I-589 application now faces review regardless of the applicant’s nationality.
Nationals from Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen face complete entry bans under Presidential Proclamation 10949, issued in June. Partial restrictions apply to applicants from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
The hold extends to green card applications, permanent resident card renewals, travel document requests, and petitions to remove conditions on residence for nationals of the 19 countries.
The memo also freezes Form N-470 applications to preserve residence for naturalization purposes, though it does not explicitly halt Form N-400 citizenship applications. USCIS will also re-review previously approved benefits for individuals from these countries who entered the United States after January 20, 2021.
According to the memo, USCIS has determined “the burden of processing delays that will fall on some applicants is necessary and appropriate in this instance, when weighed against the agency’s obligation to protect and preserve national security.” USCIS will not waive interviews for affected populations under any circumstances.
The agency cited two recent cases involving Afghan nationals as justification. Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi pleaded guilty to conspiring and attempting to provide material support to ISIS for an Election Day 2024 attack plot.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal faces charges in the November shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., which left one dead and another critically injured.
USCIS Director Joseph Edlow told Newsmax that Afghan nationals who arrived following the 2021 US withdrawal “were not properly vetted.” His office declared on X that “nothing is off the table until every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced she recommended to Trump “a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.”
A DHS spokesperson defended the pause by asserting that “citizenship is a privilege, not a right.”
“Collective punishment by press release”
Trump announced plans to end all federal benefits and subsidies for “non-citizens” in the days following the National Guard shooting.
He declared he would “denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility” and deport any foreign national deemed a public charge, security risk, or “non-compatible with Western civilization.”
Adam Juchniewicz, a retired US Air Force veteran who served in the West Virginia National Guard and now heads Bitcoin Lawyer, questioned the legal foundation.
Juchniewicz takes “the killing of a National Guardsman near the White House very personally” but argues that “turning one Afghan gunman into a legal pretext as rationale to blacklist half of the developing world is not serious security policy.”
The policy amounts to “collective punishment by press release,” according to Juchniewicz, who insists the administration cannot “rewrite the Immigration and Nationality Act simply through a post on Truth Social.”
He challenged the constitutional basis for the measures, arguing that “you don’t get to strip citizenship from people just because you decide they’re ‘undermining domestic tranquility.'”
Immigration reform falls under congressional jurisdiction. Juchniewicz dismissed the “‘permanent pause'” designation as “political theater, not a legal category,” declaring flatly that “that’s not how the Constitution works.”
The memo establishes criteria for case-by-case review, including whether applicants appear in the Terrorist Screening Dataset as known or suspected terrorists, connections to organizations described in immigration law’s terrorism provisions, or links to criminal conduct.
Applicants unable to establish their identity as outlined in the presidential proclamation also face heightened scrutiny.
Within 90 days, USCIS will prioritize a list for review, interview, re-interview, and referral to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other law enforcement agencies. The hold remains in effect until the USCIS Director issues a subsequent memorandum lifting it.
Decision “disrupts the global talent flow that drives innovation“
Tim Sitdikov, founder of World Talents, noted the policy’s reach beyond security concerns. According to Sitdikov, “a blanket freeze like this doesn’t just hit vulnerable groups; it also disrupts the global talent flow that drives innovation.”
Sitdikov emphasized the practical obstacles the freeze creates. He observed that “for anyone building cross-border ventures or talent programs, it adds friction where we need clarity.”
Talent mobility depends on perception, Sitdikov noted. He says the United States historically broadcast a clear message that “if you’re talented and willing to work, you can belong here,” but “that signal is now changing.”
He says the shift creates opportunities for competing destinations. Sitdikov believes the policy “creates a rare moment for other countries to position themselves as the destinations that actually value and support global talent.”
Juchniewicz framed the stakes in mobility terms. He warned that “your access to the United States is now potentially in jeopardy,” arguing this demonstrates why families need “alternative residencies and second citizenships” to prevent “one country’s panic reaction” from becoming “your personal liability.”
The policy applies to applicants who list any of the 19 countries as their country of birth or citizenship. Requests to lift the hold require approval from the USCIS Director or Deputy Director, and only exemptions for litigation or extraordinary circumstances will receive consideration.
Both green card and citizenship applicants face processing delays. The memo acknowledges these delays but concludes they are “necessary and appropriate” when weighed against national security obligations.
USCIS will conduct comprehensive reviews of all relevant policies, procedures, and operational guidance during the hold period. The agency emphasized its commitment to ensuring applicants “are vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible” before any benefits receive approval.
