The Trump administration is pausing immigration applications from individuals in 19 countries, according to a policy memo from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, Venezuela and Cuba, have been under U.S. travel restrictions since a presidential proclamation in June.
The memo also halts all asylum applications, regardless of nationality, pending a comprehensive review. The move comes days after a National Guard member was killed and another critically wounded in a shooting in Washington, D.C.
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On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called for a full travel ban on certain countries after meeting with President Donald Trump.
Noem posted on social media that the United States was not founded for “foreign invaders to slaughter our heroes.”
She did not specify which countries the ban would apply to.
"I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that's been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies," she wrote. "Our forefathers built this nation on blood, sweat, and the unyielding love of freedom—not for foreign invaders to slaughter our heroes, suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars, or snatch the benefits owed to AMERICANS. WE DON'T WANT THEM. NOT ONE."
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