The Trump administration said on Thursday, November 27th it will re-examine green cards issued to individuals who immigrated to the U.S. from 19 countries.
The head of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Joseph Edlow, confirmed the president had directed him to conduct “a full scale, rigorous re-examination of every green card for every alien from every country of concern.”
When asked by the BBC which countries were on the list, the agency referenced a June proclamation by the White House that included Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Somalia and Venezuela.
The announcement comes after an Afghan national is accused of shooting two National Guard troops in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, gravely injuring them both, with one of them later dying from her injuries, and the other guardsman fighting for his life, President Trump confirmed during the Thanksgiving holiday.
The suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, came to the U.S. in 2021 under a program that offered special immigration protections to Afghans in the wake of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The attack prompted a harsh response from Trump:
The last administration let in 20 million unknown and unvetted foreigners from all over the world, from places that you don’t even want to know about. No country can tolerate such a risk to our very survival.
