The Trump administration partially lifted the suspension of asylum applications that had frozen hundreds of thousands of cases since November 2025, although it maintains the freeze for nationals from 39 countries included in its immigration ban proclamation, among them Cuba, Venezuela, and Haiti.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to CBS News that "USCIS has lifted the adjudication suspension for thoroughly vetted asylum applicants from non-high-risk countries," according to an official statement from the agency.
The DHS clarified that the measure "allows for the focusing of resources on the ongoing and rigorous vetting of national security and public safety for higher-risk cases," and emphasized that the "highest scrutiny and verification for ALL foreigners continues without interruption."
The original suspension was imposed in November 2025, days after the shooting on the 26th of that month in Washington D.C., when Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan citizen, shot at two members of the National Guard near the Farragut West metro station, just a few blocks from the White House.
The specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20 years old, died on November 27 due to her injuries, while the soldier Andrew Wolfe, 24 years old, was seriously injured.
Lakanwal entered the United States on September 8, 2021 under the Operation Allies Welcome program, which provides humanitarian parole to Afghans evacuated following the U.S. withdrawal. He was charged with first-degree murder and pleaded not guilty; he remains detained without bail.
After the attack, the Trump administration imposed a historic and indefinite pause on all asylum decisions processed by the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) outside of immigration courts, regardless of the applicant's nationality, citing national security reasons.
Now, the partial lift reactivates processing for most countries, but the freeze remains intact for nationals of the 39 countries included in the immigration ban, list that Trump expanded in December 2025 from the original 19 countries to a total of 39 nations.
Among the countries with total restrictions is Haiti, while Cuba and Venezuela have partial restrictions. Cuba is listed due to its status as a state sponsor of terrorism and its refusal to accept repatriations; Venezuela, due to the absence of a central authority capable of issuing reliable documents.
The freeze is not limited to asylum: all other legal immigration applications from nationals of those 39 countries are also suspended, including work permits, green cards, and citizenship applications, measures implemented through USCIS memoranda starting December 2, 2025.
Immigrant advocates have accused the administration of punishing legal immigrants who follow immigration rules, while Trump officials argue that the measures combat fraud and strengthen verification procedures that they deemed too lax under the Biden administration.
Trump's immigration policy has seen a progressive escalation since January 2025, which included the elimination of the CBP One program, large-scale deportation raids, and restrictions on work permits for asylum seekers, increasing the waiting time from 150 days to a year and reducing the duration of permits from five years to 18 months.
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