Joseph Edlow, the Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), confirmed that the president tasked him with conducting a "comprehensive and thorough review" of all active green cards issued to nationals of the specified countries.
Among the 19 countries subject to this review are: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
USCIS noted that the review will take into account "negative factors inherent to each of the countries," including the potential for obtaining fraudulent identity documents.
The decision to conduct the review followed the revelation that the suspect in the shooting was Afghan citizen Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who arrived in the U.S. in 2021 under a program offering special immigration protection for Afghans after the withdrawal of American troops. He was granted asylum in April 2025.
The Department of Homeland Security announced a suspension of processing all immigration applications related to Afghan citizens and a review of asylum cases that were approved during the Joe Biden administration.
Since the completion of the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, more than 190,000 Afghans have relocated to the U.S.
In his video address, Donald Trump accused the Joe Biden administration of allowing the entry of the alleged shooter. He emphasized the need to "recheck everyone who arrived from Afghanistan under Biden" and called for action to deport foreigners from countries that he believes "do not benefit the U.S."
