The United States will review all green cards issued to individuals from 19 'countries of concern' at the direction of US President Donald Trump, as the Trump administration intensifies its immigration crackdown following a shooting incident involving two members of the National Guard in Washington. 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. In a statement yesterday, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that when reviewing immigrants from these 19 countries, the agency will now take into account 'the negative factors specific to each country,' which include whether the country is capable of 'issuing secure identity documents'. Since officials identified the suspect in the shooting that wounded two National Guard members in Washington as an Afghan national, Rahmanullah Lodin, the Trump administration has intensified its efforts to restrict immigration. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees USCIS, announced on Thursday that the administration is also reviewing all asylum applications approved during the previous Biden administration. Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McCullough stated in a CNN statement: 'Effective immediately, the processing of all immigration applications related to Afghan citizens is being suspended indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols.' She added: 'The Trump administration is also reviewing all asylum applications that were approved under the Biden administration.'
