Trump Orders Review of Green Card Holders Following D.C. Shooting
WASHINGTON – In response to a shooting in Washington D.C.that critically injured two West Virginia National Guard members, President Trump has directed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to conduct a “full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card” holder from countries deemed of concern. The order, announced Thursday by USCIS Director Joseph Edlow, comes after authorities identified the shooter as an Afghan national.
The move signals a renewed push for stricter immigration enforcement following the Wednesday attack. USCIS instantly suspended all immigration applications from Afghan nationals.
When pressed for specifics on which countries are considered “of concern,” USCIS directed inquiries to a June 4th presidential proclamation titled “Restricting the Entry of Foreign nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats.”
That proclamation outlines full entry restrictions for nationals from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Partial restrictions and limited entry apply to citizens of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
“The protection of this country and of the American people remains paramount, and the American people will not bear the cost of the prior governance’s reckless resettlement policies. american safety is non-negotiable,” Edlow stated in a post on X (formerly twitter).
The reexamination of existing Green Card holders represents a notable expansion of the administration’s immigration policies, raising questions about potential revocation of legal permanent residency status. Further details regarding the scope and process of the review are expected to be released by USCIS in the coming days.
