After DC Shooting, Trump Orders Review Of Green Cards Issued To People From 19 Countries

USCIS chief says all green cards issued to nationals from 19 flagged countries will undergo a “full-scale reexamination” at US President Trump’s direction. (IMAGE: REUTERS)

US President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the reexamination of all green cards issued to people from 19 countries “of concern”. The director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Joe Edlow indicated that the examination will be “rigorous”.

The announcement comes shortly after the Department of Homeland Security said earlier that it is reviewing all asylum cases approved by the Biden administration.

The order follows the arrest of an Afghan national accused of shooting two National Guard members near the White House on Wednesday.

“At the direction of @POTUS, I have directed a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern,” Joe Edlow wrote in a post on X.

According to broadcaster CNN, the 19 countries were designated as such in a June presidential proclamation.

The 19 countries are: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

“The Trump Administration is also reviewing all asylum cases approved under the Biden Administration, which failed to vet these applicants on a massive scale,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin was quoted as saying by CNN.

FBI Director Kash Patel said the shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism. Agents have served a series of search warrants, with Patel calling it a “coast-to-coast investigation.”