Overview
- Homeland Security ordered a halt to processing for applicants born in or citizens of 19 nations, including Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Cuba, Burundi and Venezuela.
- USCIS said it has suspended all asylum decisions until officials can conduct more extensive background checks.
- Work permits for refugees, asylum seekers and other humanitarian applicants will now last up to 18 months instead of five years, a shift USCIS says allows more frequent security reviews.
- President Trump escalated rhetoric by calling Somalis “trash,” drawing criticism at home and in Mogadishu as his administration moves to roll back protections for Somalis in Minnesota.
- Immigration lawyers forecast rapid court challenges to the nationality-based freeze and warn it will fuel major backlogs and broader discretionary denials.