The U.S. has stopped reviewing all immigration cases from Iran and 18 other countries.
The United States has halted the processing of all immigration applications related to 19 countries previously subject to a travel ban, including Iran.
Immigration officers have been instructed to halt all final decisions on cases and to postpone citizenship ceremonies for immigrants who are on the verge of receiving citizenship.
This decision comes amid reports that Donald Trump intends to expand his previous travel restriction order from 19 countries to 30 countries, including 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.
This is the latest restriction in immigration laws following last week’s shooting in Washington D.C., where a National Guard soldier was killed and another person was critically injured.
The suspect in this incident is an Afghan citizen living in the United States.
On June 4th, the White House identified 19 countries, primarily in Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean, that would face full or partial immigration restrictions.
Guidance was issued on Tuesday by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which last week had halted all asylum decisions and announced that it would review green cards, the permanent residency cards issued to immigrants from countries subject to the travel ban.