The United States has suspended all asylum applications, Joseph Edlow, the head of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), announced in X.
“USCIS has suspended all asylum decisions until we can ensure the most complete vetting of every alien possible. The safety of the American people always comes first“, he wrote.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in X that the US is also suspending visas for Afghan passport holders.
“President Trump's State Department has suspended visas for all travelers using Afghan passports. The United States has no higher priority than protecting our country and our people,” he wrote.
The statement came after a shooting near the White House on November 27 that injured two National Guardsmen, one of whom died of his injuries the next day. The shooter has been detained. According to the FBI, he was an immigrant from Afghanistan, from where he arrived in the United States in 2021.
US President Donald Trump then promised to deport all migrants who entered the United States seeking asylum.