Overview
- The Dec. 2 internal memo orders adjudicators to stop final decisions on immigration benefit requests for people from the 19 nations already under Trump’s June travel restrictions.
- USCIS also paused all asylum and withholding-of-removal applications nationwide pending a “comprehensive review.”
- Officers must re-review—and potentially re-interview—nationals of the listed countries who entered on or after Jan. 20, 2021, with prioritized review lists due in roughly 90 days.
- The hold remains in place until Director Joseph Edlow issues a new directive, and any case-by-case release requires approval by the director or deputy; some naturalization oath ceremonies were canceled.
- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called for broader bans, while immigration lawyers and rights groups warned of sweeping delays for millions and signaled imminent legal challenges.