President Donald J. Trump has ordered the review of all Green Cards issued to immigrants from 19 countries of high-risk, following the fatal shooting of a National Guard member near the White House.
The order follows the killing of 20-year-old Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and the critical wounding of another service member in an ambush-style attack. Authorities later arrested a 29-year-old Afghan national who had entered the United States under a humanitarian resettlement program in 2021.
President Trump said the attack exposed dangerous weaknesses in America’s immigration systems.
“We must now re-examine every single alien who entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden, and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of anyone who does not belong here or add benefit to our country.”
Under his directive, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will conduct a full-scale and rigorous reexamination of all Green Cards issued to immigrants from the affected countries.
These countries include Afghanistan, Somalia, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Eritrea, Haiti, Venezuela, and several others earlier designated by the administration as posing elevated security concerns.
The review takes effect immediately and applies to all existing Green Card holders from the 19 countries, as well as all pending and newly filed applications. Immigration officers have been ordered to reassess each case under strengthened criteria that now incorporate national-security factors and the reliability of applicants’ home-country identification systems. USCIS has also suspended all new immigration requests from Afghan nationals while the vetting process is overhauled.
In a separate Thanksgiving message posted shortly before the official announcement, President Trump intensified his criticism of immigration from what he called Third World Countries.
He declared,“I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States.”
He added that his administration would deport any foreign national considered a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization and insisted that only reverse migration could correct the current challenges facing the country.
As USCIS begins the mandated reexamination, Green Card holders from the affected countries now face deep uncertainty, with intensified background checks and possible status reviews expected in the coming weeks.
