The Trump administration has ordered a sweeping “rigorous reexamination” of permanent residency status for immigrants from 19 nations classified as “countries of concern,” immediately following the fatal shooting of a National Guard member in the capital by an Afghan national this week.
The directive, issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow, signifies a major escalation in the administration’s immigration clampdown, with the agency announcing new policy guidance that allows officers to consider an applicant’s country of origin as a significant adverse factor in reviewing immigration benefits.
“At the direction of the President of the United States, I have directed a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern,” Edlow said in a statement on Thursday. He added that the new measures prioritize national security, stating emphatically: “American lives come first.”
The intensified scrutiny applies to all Green Card requests pending or filed on or after November 27, 2025. The list of 19 nations matches those named in a June presidential proclamation that previously imposed full or partial entry suspensions due to security concerns, weak vetting systems, or high visa overstay rates.
The policy shift was triggered by the attack on Wednesday near the White House, where the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, allegedly launched an “ambush-style” attack on two National Guard troops. One service member, Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, succumbed to her injuries, while Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains in critical condition.
Lakanwal entered the U.S. in 2021 under the Operation Allies Welcome program established by the previous administration. In the immediate wake of the attack, the Department of Homeland Security announced it had paused all immigration processing requests related to Afghan nationals.
The 19 countries now subject to heightened review are: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
