Donald Trump calls immigrants ‘garbage’, halts Green Card, citizenship processes, and immigration applications

New Delhi: US President Doland Trump’s administration took a major step on Tuesday, 2 December, halting all immigration applications from 19 non-European countries. This includes green cards, US citizenship, and all other immigration processes. The government cited growing concerns about national security and public safety as the reason.

These 19 countries include those for which the US had announced a travel ban in June this year. Now, strict immigration and other restrictions have been imposed on people from these countries. These countries also include Afghanistan, Somalia, and Iran.

Strict action after attack on National Guard

In the memorandum issued for this new policy, the Trump administration also mentioned the major attack on National Guard troops near the White House in Washington last week. An Afghan national was arrested as a suspect in the attack. One National Guard member was killed in the incident, while another is currently seriously injured. Following this incident, Trump has recently escalated his rhetoric against countries like Afghanistan and Somalia. He has called immigrants “garbage,” urging them to return to their countries.

Which countries are on the radar?

The memorandum issued on Wednesday, 03 December 2025, lists Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen as the countries with the strictest restrictions. Other countries with partial restrictions include Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

Re-examinations will be conducted

Immigration applications from all these countries are now on hold. Previously pending applications will also be suspended. Under the new policy, the files of every applicant from these countries will be re-examined. If necessary, they will be interviewed or re-interviewed to assess all security risks.