Trump Admin. pauses admissions for 19 countries after Afghan Parolee Shooting

With your support, IAP has led the fight on Capitol Hill to stop bipartisan efforts to increase Afghan Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) and to give green cards to those who were illegally paroled into the country following the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal. It has been clear from the beginning that the roughly 200,000 unvetted and unvettable Afghans brought into the United States by the Biden Administration present a massive national security threat. Just last March, we successfully fought to remove a provision from a Continuing Resolution to fund the government that would have added 20,000 additional Afghan SIVs. Last week’s terror attack reminded the country that a good deal of damage has already been done.

After the tragic shooting of two National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., over Thanksgiving week, the Trump Administration issued new guidance to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) personnel to pause all applications for asylum and other immigration statuses of foreign nationals from 19 countries, including Afghanistan. 

The USCIS policy memo instructs personnel to place a hold on all pending immigration applications, and to re-review approved applications, for nationals of those countries who entered the United States after January 20, 2021. It further places a hold on all applications for asylum and withholding of removal, regardless of the alien's country of origin.

The 19 countries were identified in Pres. Trump's June 4th proclamation, "Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and other National Security and Public Safety Threats." The countries whose nationals were barred from entry are Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Seven additional countries are subject to partial restrictions, including Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

The alleged shooter of the National Guard troops is an Afghan national who was brought to the United States by the Biden Administration in September of 2021. In addition to bringing 200,000 unvetted Afghan nationals to the United States, the previous administration released millions of illegal border crossers into the country, without proper vetting, during the Biden border crisis.

According to the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), 11.5 to 12.5 million foreign nationals entered the United States between 2021 and January of 2025, resulting in a net increase of 8.3 million in the foreign-born population. This increase brought the foreign-born population to a record high—both in total numbers and as a share of the total population.

With such a massive surge of illegal and legal immigration over the last five years, the Immigration Accountability Project (IAP) has been at the forefront of calling for a moratorium on all immigration and a review of current policies. IAP supports legislation recently introduced by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), the PAUSE Act, that would end the Visa Lottery and the Optional Practical Training program and pause most immigration until Congress ends Chain Migration and Birthright Citizenship and makes other reforms to existing federal law. You can learn about all the bill's provisions here.

Kansas Rep. makes move up IAP Action rankings

Rep. Derek Schmidt (R-KS) inched closer to IAP Action's Top 25, moving up 12 spots to 29th place in this week's Congressional rankings. Rep. Schmidt's move came as a result of his sponsorship of the SAFE for America Act, which would end the Visa Lottery. IAP Action rates the SAFE for America Act as key good legislation since it would eliminate the 55,000 green cards handed out each year in a random lottery drawing.

Rep. Schmidt's move up the rankings was the second-largest upward move last week. The biggest move belonged to Rep. Julie Fedorchak (R-ND), who moved up 16 spots, but still ranks in the bottom quarter amongst House Republicans.

Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA) suffered the biggest drop, falling 17 spots in the House rankings. Rep. Kalmager-Dove cosponsored the Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929. The bill would grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens and is rated as key bad legislation by IAP Action.

Immigration Articles

Department of Homeland Security: Miles from Nation's Capital, ICE Arrests ISIS-K Afghan Terrorist Who Was Released into the U.S. Under Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome
On the heels of last week’s shooting, DHS arrested another alien who came under the illegal “Operation Allies Welcome” Afghan parole scheme. 

City Journal: “The Largest Funder of Al-Shabaab Is the Minnesota Taxpayer”
This blockbuster article from Chris Rufo and Ryan Thorpe details a scheme they uncovered of Somali refugees from Minnesota defrauding state welfare programs of millions of dollars through fake claims. They funneled the stolen funds to Somalia, where they reportedly benefited the terror group Al-Shabaab.

The Federalist: The Lie Of Third-World Assimilation Is Finally Dead
“The Afghan ambush and the Somali fraud scandal reveal a truth elites don’t want to admit: the myth of assimilation has collapsed.”

Department of Homeland Security: Sanctuary New York Released Nearly 7,000 Criminal Illegal Aliens Including Murderers, Terrorists, and Sexual Predators
This one is a tweet thread instead of an article, but it’s breaking news worth sharing. The State Department has instructed U.S. embassies to report on the human rights implications and public safety impacts of mass migration.

Center for Immigration Studies: Rahmanullah Lakanwal: One of 200,000 Afghans Brought Here Since 2021
Our friend Nayla Rush at the CIS writes an excellent deep dive on the programs that were used to import 200,000 Afghan nationals.

Next Week

The House and Senate return next week to work on the National Defense Authorization Act, potential appropriations bills, and other matters to wind down the calendar year. 

Tune in on the morning of Thursday, December 11th, as DHS Secretary Noem testifies before the House Homeland Security Committee on “Worldwide Threats to the Homeland.” We expect immigration will be a central topic.