President Trump expanded his "travel ban" to include 20 additional countries, and USCIS has reportedly paused processing immigration petitions for nationals of those nations. The change adds five countries to full entry bans and imposes partial restrictions on 15 others, mainly affecting African and Asian countries. USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said the agency is reviewing anyone who poses a threat; supporters call the action a security measure, while critics call it discriminatory.
USCIS Expands Freeze On Immigration Cases After Trump Adds 20 Countries To Travel Ban
The U.S. government has widened a suspension of legal immigration petition processing to include applications from nationals of 20 additional countries that President Trump added to his latest "travel ban" proclamation, a U.S. official with direct knowledge told CBS News.
The policy change mainly affects migrants from several African and Asian nations and represents an escalation of the administration's broader restrictions on legal immigration. Many of those impacted are lawful immigrants already residing in the United States who are seeking to change their status or pursue naturalization.
What Changed
Earlier in December, the administration instructed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to freeze all immigration petitions — including applications for U.S. citizenship and permanent resident status — filed by people already in the U.S. who are nationals of the 19 countries targeted in June. This week, the president expanded that proclamation to add 20 more countries. A U.S. official, speaking on background, told CBS News that USCIS has extended its suspension of case processing to cover the newly included nationalities.
Countries Newly Affected
The expanded pause affects nationals of the following countries:
- New Full Entry Bans: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, Syria
- New Partial Restrictions: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Previously suspended countries included Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, Cuba, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Laos, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Yemen and Venezuela. In the most recent proclamation, Laos and Sierra Leone were moved from partial restrictions to full entry bans.
"USCIS is conducting a comprehensive review of anyone from anywhere who poses a threat to the U.S., including those identified in the President's latest proclamation to restore law and order in our nation's immigration system," USCIS Director Joseph Edlow posted on social media.
Context and Reaction
The administration framed the measures as national security and vetting steps following a Thanksgiving-week shooting in Washington, D.C., that authorities say was carried out by an Afghan national. In response, the government also suspended USCIS decisions on asylum cases and halted processing of immigration and visa requests by Afghans.
Critics argue the expanded restrictions are discriminatory because they disproportionately target countries in Africa and Asia. Taken together, the newest proclamation affects nationals from more than 60% of African countries and roughly 20% of all nations worldwide.
The pause on case processing is an administrative action that could delay or block decisions on adjustments of status, naturalization petitions, family-based immigration applications and other immigration benefits for people from the listed countries. USCIS has not released a public implementation timeline or full guidance on how the expanded pause will be applied in individual cases.
What To Watch: Expect immigration advocates, legal groups and affected communities to seek clarity from USCIS and potentially challenge the expanded pause in court. Lawmakers may also press for answers about criteria and duration of the suspension.
