U.S. government stops immigration applications from 19 countries, including citizenship ceremonies

Image for article: U.S. government stops immigration applications from 19 countries, including citizenship ceremonies

Joel Abbott

Dec 3, 2025

I think CBS News is presenting this as a BAD thing.

The internal U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services guidance obtained by CBS News shows the agency directed employees on Monday to 'stop final adjudication on all cases' involving individuals from 19 nations that are facing restrictions under a proclamation President Trump issued in June. Colloquially, that proclamation is known as the travel ban.

That pause includes the completion of citizenship ceremonies for legal U.S. permanent residents from the list of 19 countries who were on the cusp of becoming naturalized American citizens, the USCIS document said. It suggested the suspension is an interim step while the administration develops further guidance on the vetting of the affected immigrants.

Again, CBS News seems to be writing this like it's a BAD thing!

The 19 countries in question are:

  1. Afghanistan

  2. Burma (Myanmar)

  3. Chad

  4. Republic of the Congo

  5. Equatorial Guinea

  6. Eritrea

  7. Iran

  8. Libya

  9. Somalia

  10. Sudan

  11. Yemen

  12. Burundi

  13. Cuba

  14. Haiti

  15. Laos

  16. Sierra Leone

  17. Togo

  18. Turkmenistan

  19. Venezuela

The last 6 countries technically have partial restrictions on applications, so a few specific cases may still be under review, but in general, the citizens of these countries are now cut off from attempting to seek asylum, green cards, and/or citizenship in the United States.

The new guidance indicates that the immigration crackdown directed by Mr. Trump following last week's shooting of the National Guard members is much broader in scope than previously reported. The man accused of shooting the two Guard members, one of whom has died, is an Afghan evacuee who entered the U.S. in September 2021, under the Biden administration, and who was granted asylum in April 2025, after Mr. Trump returned to the White House.

(They made sure to slip that last part in there as if Trump personally directed the bloated bureaucracy to approve an asylum claim started 4 years earlier.)

The comment section approved:

Here's the memo, "effective immediately," in case you want to see it:

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