U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Thursday tightened vetting rules and imposed new restrictions on immigrants from 19 high-risk countries, following the shooting of two National Guard members by a suspected Afghan national near the White House.
The agency said the updated policy allows officers to factor in security risks tied to an applicant’s home country — including whether that country can produce reliable identity documents — when reviewing refugee, visa, or other immigration requests from the designated nations. Officials said the change is intended to strengthen national-security screening and reflects the Trump administration’s broader overhaul of vetting procedures.
“My primary responsibility is to ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible,” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said in a news release. “This includes an assessment of where they are coming from and why. Yesterday’s horrific events make it abundantly clear the Biden administration spent the last four years dismantling basic vetting and screening standards, prioritizing the rapid resettlement of aliens from high-risk countries over the safety of American citizens. The Trump administration takes the opposite approach.”
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