Lawmakers decry Trump’s immigration halt for 19 countries: ‘scapegoating entire nationalities’ | US immigration
Immigration groups and lawmakers are harshly criticizing Donald Trump’s latest move to halt immigration applications from 19 countries currently under US travel restrictions; The decision comes amid reports that naturalization ceremonies have been canceled for people on the travel ban list. is also cancelled.
On Tuesday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released a policy memo announcing immediate “adjudication” on all asylum applications “regardless of the alien’s country of citizenship,” as well as a review of individuals from “high-risk countries” entering the United States after Joe Biden takes office in 2021.
These 19 countries include Afghanistan, Burma, Burundi, Chad, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and Yemen, and all of these countries have partial or full travel restrictions.
The latest crackdown on immigrants follows the shooting of two national guard members in Washington, D.C., last week, one of whom died. Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan citizen who entered the United States in September 2021 following the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan, was granted asylum by the Trump administration earlier this year.
In Tuesday’s memo, USCIS stated: “Recently, the United States has seen what a lack of screening, review, and prioritization of appropriate decisions can do to the American people… In light of the identified concerns and threats to the American people, USCIS has determined that a comprehensive reexamination, potential interview, and reinterview of all aliens from high-risk countries who entered the United States on or after January 20, 2021, is warranted.”
Critics condemned the White House’s initiative, calling it “scapegoat” of immigrant communities.
Human Rights Watch’s US director, Tanya Greene, told the Guardian: “There is nothing that meaningfully binds these 19 countries together other than the administration’s opportunistic stigmatization and exclusion of people based on where they were born. This sweeping change is not about security; it is about scapegoating entire nations for the actions of a single individual. This policy will tear families apart, endanger people fleeing persecution and further damage US credibility on human rights.”
Similarly, the National Immigrant Justice Center said: “The Trump administration is using the tragic shooting of two National Guard members to scapegoat and implement a new ban on Black and brown immigrants. Where there is grief and heartbreak, the Trump administration sees opportunity—that is, the opportunity to unveil more racist and anti-immigrant policies.”
“None of these policies respond to the tragic events of last week. These actions will place countless individuals and families in limbo and jeopardize their rights to a fair trial and protection under U.S. and international law,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, Uzra Zeya, chief executive of non-profit Human Rights First, said: “This is a moment that requires moral courage from our leaders – not cruelty, not cowardice, and not the denial of our most basic values.
Zeya continued: “The Administration’s massive shutdown of immigration and asylum, combined with its divisive and openly bigoted rhetoric in the wake of this attack, is outrageous and dangerous. These actions do nothing but encourage further violence, fuel xenophobia, and dehumanize people who are already deeply traumatized.”
Robert S McCaw, director of government affairs at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, encouraged Congress to “exert greater oversight of USCIS and ICE and investigate the politicized spread of these discriminatory policies.” Freezing asylum rights nationwide and forcing thousands of people from these 19 countries into new interviews after thorough vetting will not contribute to meaningful improvements in security.
“Punishing entire nations for the actions of a few is ineffective, discriminatory, and morally indefensible,” McCaw added.
The Iranian National American Council also issued a statement: saying: “On top of the already widespread and arbitrary deportation of Iranian citizens, it is difficult to underestimate the level of suffering and insecurity this will cause. People who should be approaching the day of their citizenship ceremony with joy suddenly see their future in turmoil.”
He called the latest announcement “a new level of cruelty and racism.”
Lawmakers also condemned the White House’s latest crackdown on immigration, particularly Trump’s recent remarks about Somali immigrants — whom he calls “trash” — as deportation efforts reportedly target undocumented Somalis in Minnesota intensify.
Minnesota’s American-Somali Democratic representative Ilhan Omar, who is frequently targeted by Trump, responded as follows: says: “He was always racist, bigoted, xenophobic, and Islamophobic… We know that when he got off that escalator, he said he would stop Muslim immigration… Most of us are citizens… We love that Minnesota accepts us.”
Similarly, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon in question: “Can you imagine a past president at any time in U.S. history openly calling Jews, Italians, or Poles in America “trash,” saying they “contribute nothing,” saying, “I don’t want them in our country,” and urging them to “go back where they came from”? You can’t. But here we are in 2025, with a president who proudly spreads this hateful poison against a particular nation. This is pure bigotry. Shameful, ugly and un-American.”
