The Donald Trump administration has announced an unprecedented ban on all immigration applications from 19 countries, creating much confusion about what exactly it means and what will come under this ban. Citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. While the strong reaction came after the DC shooting in which the accused is an Afghan refugee who was allowed to enter the US in 2021, these 19 countries were already on Trump’s travel ban list. Immigration expert Brad Bernstein explained that the immigration halt does not mean only Green Cards will be halted but it also includes spouses of US citizens, fiancés, and adopted children of US citizens from any of these countries will not be able to proceed with their applications. “If you are from any of the countries, your case is on hold. That’s marriage cases, adopted children of US citizens, visitors’ visas, students’ visas, naturalization, Green Card applications, all visa applications, asylum…you are frozen at the moment,” Bernstein said, explaining that the people affected can’t do anything right now except maintain lawfiul status and wait for litigation or policy change. “They say there’s going to be exceptions based on humanitarian reasons. But that’s going to be completely inconsistent. And calling this a national security issue does not change how unprecedented this is in United States history. Expect class action lawsuits, injunctions, individualized mandamus requests for people whose cases are on hold,” Bersnstain said.
All pending asylum applications are on hold
- The memo says all Forms I-589 applications are on hold now. This is not about the 19 countries, the memo specified. This is regardless of the alien’s country of nationality, pending a comprehensive review. This means all asylum applications are now on hold.
- All immigration requests from the 19 countries are on hold.
- Re-review of approved requests from the 19 countries that entered the US on or after January 20, 2021.
