WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has ordered a widespread review of asylum cases approved under former President Joe Biden’s administration and Green Cards issued to citizens of 19 countries, Department of Homeland Security officials said on Thursday (Nov 27).
Officials say the Afghan immigrant suspected of shooting two National Guard members in Washington DC on Wednesday entered the US in 2021 under a resettlement program.
Hours after the shooting, which left the two Guard members in critical condition, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the immediate and indefinite suspension of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals.
On Thursday, DHS said the Trump administration was expanding that to include a review of all asylum cases approved under the Biden administration.Â
The alleged gunman was granted asylum this year under Trump, according to a US government file seen by Reuters.
USCIS director Joseph Edlow said in a statement he was also directing a “full-scale, rigorous re-examination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern” at Trump’s request.
He did not indicate which countries are considered by the United States to be of concern.Â
USCIS referred Reuters to a travel ban Trump imposed in June on citizens of 19 countries, including Afghanistan, Burundi, Laos, Togo, Venezuela, Sierra Leone, and Turkmenistan.
Source: CNA
