The Green Card review policy was announced after officials confirmed that the Washington attack suspect was an Afghan national previously linked with American forces.
The Washington attack incident has prompted the Trump administration to reassess immigration procedures for specific countries.
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The Trump administration said it would reevaluate the immigration status of every permanent resident belonging to Afghanistan and eighteen other nations described as sensitive because of security concerns outlined in a recent executive order.
US officials revealed that the suspect arrested after Wednesday’s shooting of National Guard troops was a 29-year-old Afghan national who had earlier worked with American military personnel during operations in Afghanistan.
According to AfghanEvac, a resettlement organisation assisting Afghans after the 2021 Taliban takeover, the suspect received asylum in April this year rather than permanent residency or a Green Card granted through standard immigration processes.
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Joseph Edlow, the director of US Customs and Immigration Services, announced on X that he had ordered a comprehensive reexamination of every Green Card held by nationals from countries the administration considers potentially risky.
A USCIS spokesperson clarified that these countries fall under President Donald Trump’s June executive order, which identified nineteen nations as posing concern and imposed strict entry limitations on travellers from those locations.
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The executive order banned the entry of almost all nationals from twelve countries, including Afghanistan, with similar restrictions applied to Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea and several others.
Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Haiti were also listed under the same ban, marking one of the most extensive travel restrictions applied by the administration during the current security review period.
Seven additional countries, including Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela, were placed under a partial travel ban, limiting entry but allowing certain temporary work visas.
