WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (APP): The Trump administration has halted all asylum decisions following the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, DC, the head of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has said.<\/p>\n
Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said in a statement that his agency had \u201chalted all asylum decisions until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump cut the number of asylum claims dramatically by moving to seal the U.S.-Mexico border with Mexico when he took office. Friday\u2019s decision affects people who are already in the United States and believe they would face persecution if they returned to their home country, according to media reports.<\/p>\n
The State Department also announced on Friday night that it was halting visas for Afghans, including those who had helped the United States during the war in their country.<\/p>\n
The series of immigration decisions comes in the wake of Wednesday\u2019s shooting, which left one soldier dead and another in a critical condition, and which officials have accused an Afghan national of perpetrating.<\/p>\n
The suspect, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the United States through a temporary programme set up to manage the immigration of Afghan nationals fleeing Taliban rule. He obtained asylum in April, according to The New York Times.<\/p>\n
While the first of these specifically targeted Afghans seeking to enter the US, other decisions have been far more wide-reaching.<\/p>\n
The USCIS \u2013 a branch of the Department of Homeland Security \u2013 has been told not to approve, deny, or close asylum applications it receives for all nationalities, according to CBS News.<\/p>\n
Its officers can continue to work on asylum applications and review cases up to the point of making a decision, CBS reported.<\/p>\n
But few details are known about the directive.<\/p>\n
Following Wednesday\u2019s fatal attack, the Trump administration temporarily stopped issuing visas to Afghans through the same programme the shooting suspect had, before suspending all immigration requests from Afghans pending a review.<\/p>\n
Then on Thursday, the USCIS said it would re-examine green cards issued to individuals who had migrated to the US from 19 countries, without mentioning Wednesday\u2019s attack.<\/p>\n
The agency referred to a June proclamation that included Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Somalia and Venezuela. Details on what re-examination would look like were not provided.<\/p>\n
Trump then pledged to \u201cend all federal benefits and subsidies to non-citizens\u201d on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The President blamed refugees for causing the \u201csocial dysfunction in America\u201d and vowed to remove \u201canyone who is not a net asset\u201d to the US.<\/p>\n
\u201cHundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia were completely taking over the once great State of Minnesota,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, a travel ban was imposed on nationals primarily from 11 African and Asian nations, including Afghanistan. During Trump\u2019s first term, he enacted a travel ban targeting multiple Muslim-majority countries.<\/p>\n
The UN has urged the US to observe international agreements on asylum seekers.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s reaction to the shooting amounted to a \u201cscapegoating\u201d of migrants in the US, argued Jeremy McKinney, the former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.<\/p>\n
He said before Trump\u2019s latest remarks that the attacker\u2019s motive was unclear, and that radicalization and mental illness could affect anyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese types of issues \u2013 they don\u2019t know skin colour, they don\u2019t know nationality.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (APP): The Trump administration has halted all asylum decisions following the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, DC, the head of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has said. Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said […]<\/p>\n
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