Green Cards Issued To Individuals From “19 High-Risk Countries” To Face “Rigorous Re-Examination”

Go to Article

In the wake of the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., the Trump administration is re-examining green cards issued to individuals from “19 high-risk countries.”

Joseph Edlow, the head of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said President Trump directed him to conduct “a full scale, rigorous re-examination of every green card for every alien from every country of concern,” BBC noted.

“My primary responsibility is to ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible,” Edlow said.

“This includes an assessment of where they are coming from and why. Yesterday’s horrific events make it abundantly clear the Biden administration spent the last four years dismantling basic vetting and screening standards, prioritizing the rapid resettlement of aliens from high-risk countries over the safety of American citizens. The Trump administration takes the opposite approach. Effective immediately, I am issuing new policy guidance that authorizes USCIS officers to consider country-specific factors as significant negative factors when reviewing immigration requests. American lives come first,” he continued.

Full post:

BREAKING: The US will reexamine all green cards issued to people from 19 countries “of concern,” per the White House.

The 19 countries include Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

“The updated guidance, including consideration of country-specific factors such as a country’s ability to issue secure identity documents, will further strengthen USCIS’ implementation of President Trump’s Presidential Proclamation (PP) 10949, Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) stated in a release.

“It will allow USCIS officers to more meaningfully assess whether an alien is a threat to public safety and national security,” it added.

BBC shared more:

US President Donald Trump said the shooting underlined a major national security threat.

Edlow’s social media post on Thursday about the sweeping green card review did not explicitly mention that attack.

“The protection of this country and of the American people remains paramount, and the American people will not bear the cost of the prior administration’s reckless resettlement policies,” he said.

There were no further details about what the re-examination would look like.

The June proclamation his agency highlighted to the BBC set out an aim to restrict foreign nationals from entering the US to protect from “foreign terrorists and other national security and public safety threats”.

The administration said security concerns and the overstay rate of business, student and tourists visas were among the reasons for a country to make the list.

“Effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols,” USCIS stated.

“The protections and safety of our homeland and of the American people remains our singular focus and mission,” it added.

CNN provided further info:

USCIS said in a statement later Thursday that when vetting immigrants from those 19 countries, the agency will now take into consideration “negative, country specific factors,” which includes whether the country is able “to issue secure identity documents.”

Since officials last night identified the suspect of the shooting as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national, the Trump administration has ramped up its efforts to restrict immigration.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees USCIS, said Thursday the administration is also reviewing all asylum cases that were approved under former President Joe Biden.

“Effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to CNN, adding, “The Trump Administration is also reviewing all asylum cases approved under the Biden Administration.”

Trump said in a social media post Thursday night his administration will work to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover.”



Comment on this Article Via Your Disqus Account