(MENAFN) The Trump administration has suspended all outstanding asylum petitions and immigration benefit applications submitted by citizens of 19 “high-risk countries,” as outlined in a fresh policy memorandum released Tuesday by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

According to the directive, agency staff are instructed to “place a hold on all Forms I-589 (Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal), regardless of the alien’s country of nationality, pending a comprehensive review.” This means all such filings will be paused while a broad assessment is conducted.

The memorandum additionally directs personnel to “place a hold on pending benefit requests for aliens from countries listed in Presidential Proclamation 10949…pending a comprehensive review, regardless of entry date.”

In effect, applications from nationals of the listed countries will remain frozen until the evaluation is complete.

Beyond this, the policy requires a “comprehensive re-review of approved benefit requests” for individuals from the 19 nations who entered the United States on or after Jan. 20, 2021.

These applicants will face an updated screening procedure, which may involve “a potential interview and, if necessary, a re-interview, to fully assess all national security and public safety threats.”

The proclamation cited in the memo enforces limitations on the entry of citizens from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, while also imposing partial entry restrictions on people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

This sweeping action follows calls by President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for a more forceful immigration crackdown, prompted by the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., last week.

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