Last week, two U.S. National Guard members were senselessly and tragically shot in Washington D.C. The alleged shooter was a citizen of Afghanistan who was recently granted asylum protection by the Trump Administration.
In response to this tragedy, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced broad immigration restrictions, to take effect immediately. Below is a summary of the newly announced restrictions. Please note that these restrictions are rapidly evolving.
Here is what we know as of this writing:
Severe Restrictions for Nationals of 19 countries.
- The 19 countries are: Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Burundi, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Yemen.
- Inside the United States.
- Initially, the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that being from one of 19 countries will be considered a “significant negative factor” in deciding immigration applications, such as asylum or applications for Lawful Permanent Residence, that involve “discretion”. However, on December 2, 2025, USCIS upgraded this to an outright ban on decisions for all types of immigration applications and form types, including a pause on Naturalization Oath ceremonies, for nationals of the 19 countries.
- USCIS said it plans to “re-examine” green cards that have already been granted to individuals from these 19 countries.
- We do not yet know what will happen in practice, and we will provide updates as we learn more.
- Traveling to the United States.
- The U.S. government previously announced travel restrictions for citizens of the 19 countries for traveling to the United States:
- Starting on June 9, 2025, citizens of these countries are not allowed to enter the U.S. (with some exceptions): Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
- Also, starting on June 9, 2025, citizens of these countries are not allowed to enter the U.S. when using certain visas (with some exceptions): Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
- There are exceptions to these June 9 travel restrictions. You can learn more about the restrictions and exceptions here.
- On November 27, 2025, the government announced they will not issue any visas to citizens of Afghanistan, including Afghan Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs). This is in addition to the June 9 travel restrictions above.
- The U.S. government previously announced travel restrictions for citizens of the 19 countries for traveling to the United States:
USCIS asylum decision pause.
- On November 28, 2025, USCIS announced that it has stopped making any decisions on pending asylum applications, regardless of country of nationality. This restriction does not only apply to nationals of the 19 countries, it applies to all pending asylum applications, regardless of country of origin. USCIS says they will continue to accept new asylum applications and conduct asylum interviews, but they will not make any final decisions to grant or deny asylum. USCIS did not say how long this pause would last. As of this writing, this pause is not supposed to affect asylum applications in immigration court, but we do not know what immigration judges will do.
USCIS “review” of some past asylum grants.
- News articles report that the government has said that it will review cases of individuals who won asylum between January 20, 2021 to January 20, 2025. We do not yet know what will actually happen, or what that review will entail. We will provide updates if we learn more.
Immigration court cases.
- The government is ending some cases in immigration court before the asylum seeker receives a full hearing. This could happen because of problems with fees, facts in the asylum application, what country you are from, or other reasons. If this happens in your case at an immigration court hearing, you are likely to be detained by ICE. Read what to know before an immigration court hearing. If you have not spoken with a lawyer about your asylum case before, you should secure an experienced immigration attorney as soon as possible.
These rapidly announced immigration restrictions are likely to face legal challenges, and the status and scope of these restrictions will evolve rapidly.
This advisal is intended for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. You should not act or rely on any information in this article without seeking the advice of a competent, licensed immigration attorney.
About the Author
Jennifer Casey is Managing Partner at Kolko & Casey, P.C. Jennifer specializes in employment based and family based immigration matters.
