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The Donald Trump administration has paused all immigration applications submitted by citizens of 19 restricted countries seeking to travel to the United States, including Cubans.
According to a report published this Tuesday by The New York Times, the measure halts the processing of green cards and citizenship applications for broad groups of individuals from nations included in the restriction list announced by the U.S. government in June.
The decision affects citizens from Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Eritrea, Haiti, Somalia, Venezuela, and other countries deemed among the poorest and most unstable in the world, according to officials from the immigration agency.
"The Trump administration is making every effort to ensure that those who become citizens are the best of the best. Citizenship is a privilege, not a right," stated Matthew Tragesser, spokesperson for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), who confirmed the pause.
The U.S. outlet reported that the decision comes after the shooting that occurred last week in Washington, in which two members of the National Guard were injured.
The suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan citizen who had obtained asylum in April, was identified by the authorities.
Immigration attorneys consulted by The New York Times noted that the measure has led to cancellations of interviews and naturalization ceremonies in various cities across the country.
Attorney Ana María Schwartz, based in Texas, explained that two of her Venezuelan clients attended their appointments at the USCIS office in Houston and were informed that their interviews had been canceled without explanation.
"Everything has come to a halt. It's like a traffic jam, and it's only going to get worse," said Schwartz.
Another attorney, Elissa J. Taub, from Tennessee, reported that a doctor represented by her firm—born in Iran and a permanent resident of the United States—was scheduled for his naturalization ceremony this week but was notified of its cancellation.
"We have heard through our network of immigration lawyers that this is not an isolated case," she added.
"People from Venezuela and Iran are having their swearing-in ceremonies canceled," he emphasized.
According to The New York Times, authorities have framed the measure within a process of reviewing and strengthening the security checks and background screenings of applicants already present in the country.
"Nothing is off the table until every foreigner is evaluated and examined to the fullest extent possible," the Citizenship and Immigration Service posted on social media this week.
The pause also adds to other recent changes announced by the Department of Homeland Security, including the review of residency cards issued to citizens of the banned countries, the temporary suspension of asylum decisions, and the reevaluation of cases approved during the previous administration.
The report from The New York Times estimates that the new rules could affect more than 1.5 million people with pending asylum applications and over 50,000 beneficiaries of asylum granted under the Biden administration.
USCIS has implemented a temporary suspension of asylum, residency, and naturalization processes while conducting a national security review
On December 2, 2025, USCIS published memorandum PM-602-0192, titled “Hold and Review of All Pending Asylum Applications and All USCIS Benefit Applications Filed by Aliens from High-Risk Countries.”
The document, signed by the Director's Office of USCIS, mandates the immediate suspension of all asylum, permanent residency, and naturalization processes submitted by citizens of the 19 countries deemed high risk, in accordance with Presidential Proclamation 10949, issued on June 4, 2025, by President Donald Trump.
The order instructs officials to pause all asylum applications (Form I-589), as well as applications for permanent residency (I-485), renewals of green cards (I-90), preservation of residency for naturalization (N-470), removal of conditions on residency (I-751), and travel authorizations (I-131), until a national and public security review is completed.
The memorandum also calls for a reevaluation of the benefits already approved for applicants from those countries who have entered the United States since January 20, 2021, the date that coincides with the start of the previous administration.
These cases must be interviewed again, with no possibility of exemption, in order to assess potential security risks or criminal backgrounds.
Among the review criteria, USCIS instructs to check if applicants appear in the Terrorist Screening Dataset (TSDS) as suspects or linked to terrorist activities, or if they maintain associations with organizations, individuals, or activities deemed a threat to national security.
The document cites Articles 212(a)(3)(A), (B), and (F) and 237(a)(4)(A) and (B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which empower the Government to deny or revoke immigration benefits on grounds of security or ties to terrorism.
The memo justifies the measure by mentioning two thwarted or completed attacks in 2024 and 2025, carried out by Afghan citizens admitted under humanitarian asylum programs.
One of them, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, was sentenced for planning a terrorist attack on Election Day 2024, and the other, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is the main suspect in the attack in Washington where National Guard members were killed.
In response to those incidents, USCIS determined that it is necessary to conduct a "comprehensive review, interviews, and possible re-interviews" for all applicants from designated countries, in order to close vulnerabilities in the immigration benefit adjudication system.
The text also clarifies that the suspension will remain in effect until further notice from the director or deputy director of USCIS, and that any exceptions must be approved by the agency's Office of Policy and Strategy.
The guide, aimed at all immigration staff, emphasizes that this review may delay pending adjudications, but considers that the administrative cost "is necessary and appropriate to preserve national security and public safety."
Finally, the memorandum warns that this procedure does not create rights or benefits that can be claimed by the applicants, and that its application is limited to the internal functions of USCIS during the review of policies and procedures.
In November, it was reported that Cuba and Venezuela were among the 19 countries whose citizens with permanent residency in the United States who would undergo a thorough review of their Green Cards, by order of President Donald Trump.
The presidential proclamation, signed in June, has been known as the "travel ban." Specifically, the order involved for Cubans the temporary suspension of various types of visas, affecting both immigrants and non-immigrants.
The measure prohibited the issuance of tourist, business, and study visas, limiting the entry of Cuban nationals to the United States with B-1 (business), B-2 (tourism), B-1/B-2 (tourism and business), F (academic studies), M (vocational training), and J (student or professional exchange) visas.
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