(MENAFN- Live Mint) The Donald Trump administration has imposed an immediate pause on all immigration applications filed by nationals of 19 countries previously placed under a US travel ban, triggering widespread cancellations of green card interviews and naturalisation ceremonies.

The move, which The New York Times reported as confirmed by senior officials on Tuesday, marks one of the broadest immigration slowdowns in recent years and deepens the administration's post-attack security crackdown.

What is driving the new immigration pause?

The suspension comes days after two National Guard members were shot in Washington, an incident authorities have linked to Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan man who obtained asylum in April. In response, the administration announced sweeping new vetting measures and signalled that further restrictions could follow.

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US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) spokesperson Matthew Tragesser defended the decision.“The Trump administration is making every effort to ensure individuals becoming citizens are the best of the best. Citizenship is a privilege, not a right,” NYT quoted Tragesser.“We will take no chances when the future of our nation is at stake.”

Which countries are affected - and is India included?

The pause applies only to people from the 19 nations previously included in the June travel ban, which reportedly covers Iran, Sudan, Eritrea, Haiti, Somalia, Venezuela and several other low-income or conflict-affected countries.

India is not on the travel-ban list and is therefore not impacted by this application pause.

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Indian applicants for green cards, H-1B adjustments, citizenship, and other immigration benefits should not experience cancellations tied to this specific policy change.

What does this mean for green card and citizenship processing?

The freeze affects multiple stages of the immigration system:

• Green card and adjustment-of-status interviews
• Lawyers across several states reported that clients were turned away from interview appointments with no advance notice.

“Everything is being put on hold,” said Texas immigration lawyer Ana Maria Schwartz.“It is just like a traffic jam, and it is just going to get worse and worse and worse.”

Naturalisation ceremonies

Some applicants, including long-time US residents, were notified that their citizenship oaths had been cancelled.

Elissa J. Taub, a Tennessee-based immigration lawyer, described one such case involving an Iranian-born physician:

“We have been hearing through our network of immigration lawyers that this is not an isolated case. Folks from Venezuela and Iran are having their naturalization oath ceremonies canceled.”

Pending asylum and previous asylum grants

The administration has also paused asylum decisions and is reviewing tens of thousands of asylum approvals issued during the Biden administration.

USCIS emphasised the scale and seriousness of the shift:“Nothing is off the table until every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”

How many people could be affected?

More than 1.5 million asylum applications were already pending before these changes, along with over 50,000 individuals who received asylum in recent years.

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It remains unclear how many citizens of travel-ban countries currently have applications awaiting action, but immigration lawyers warn the number is likely significant.

Will the pause worsen the existing backlog?

The US immigration system is already struggling with unprecedented processing delays. Lawyers warn that adding a blanket pause on top of existing backlogs could grind parts of the system to a halt.

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“This pause will put further strain on a system that has already been struggling,” Schwartz said. Many applicants have waited years for interviews that are now disappearing from government scheduling systems“with no guidance on how to proceed.”

What happens next?

Homeland Security officials suggested that the pause is only the first step in a broader security overhaul. They are also examining:

• Green cards previously issued to nationals of the 19 affected countries
• Asylum cases granted during recent years
• Further restrictions on travel and status adjustments

The administration's position indicates that the freeze could remain in place for an extended period.

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