WASHINGTON (dpa)
The Trump administration on Thursday said it would review green cards issued to all foreigners from countries "of concern," a day after two National Guard members were shot in Washington.
Joseph Edlow, director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), said on X that he had directed "a full-scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern" at the direction of US President Donald Trump. He did not initially specify which nationalities would be targeted.
A green card allows foreign nationals to live and work permanently in the United States.
A USCIS news release cited "19 high-risk countries" without listing them, but linked to a June presidential decree announcing entry bans for people coming from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran and Somalia, and a partial restriction of entry for nationals of a further seven countries, including Cuba and Venezuela.
On Wednesday, the Trump administration said processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals would be suspended "effective immediately," following the shooting of two National Guard members near the Farragut West metro station, close to the White House.
At the time, the 20-year-old woman and 24-year-old man were reported in critical condition. On Thursday, Trump said the woman had died.
The alleged perpetrator is a 29-year-old Afghan national who had been living in Bellingham in the north-western state of Washington with his wife and five children, according to Jeanine Pirro, US attorney for the District of Columbia.