The United States has paused all immigration applications, including the processing of green cards and naturalisation ceremonies, for persons from 19 countries already subject to travel restrictions imposed earlier this year, CBS News reported on Tuesday.

An internal memo from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services has instructed officers to “stop final adjudication on all cases” and to halt citizenship oath ceremonies for legal permanent residents from the 19 countries.

The guidance follows an attack in Washington DC that left one National Guard soldier dead and another critically injured, for which an Afghan citizen living in the US has been arrested.

On Friday, the US froze all decisions on asylum applications, a day after President Donald Trump said he would “permanently pause migration from all third-world countries”.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that the US had temporarily stopped issuing visas to all persons travelling on Afghan passports.

The pause applies to applicants from countries affected by Trump’s earlier order restricting travel.

In June, the Trump administration banned citizens from 12 countries from entering the country, while persons from seven other countries were to face restrictions.

The countries whose citizens have been banned are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Heightened restrictions were imposed on travellers from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services said that all applicants from the 19 countries would undergo a “thorough re-review process” that may include fresh interviews to assess security concerns, CBS News reported.

A spokesperson for the department confirmed the decision to The New York Times and said the administration was making “every effort” to ensure that new citizens were “the best of the best”.

“Citizenship is a privilege, not a right,” the spokesperson added.

This came amid a widening immigration crackdown under Trump, who has announced a series of restrictive measures since beginning his second term in January 2025.

In August, the Trump administration said that it was reviewing more than 55 million persons who had valid visas for any violations that could lead to deportation.

Other directives include the deportation of undocumented migrants using military aircraft, and imposing additional security measures on foreign students applying to American educational institutions.