From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
US pauses all immigration applications from 19 non-European countries
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The administration of US President Donald Trump says it has paused all immigration applications, including green card and US citizenship processing, filed by immigrants from 19 non-European countries, citing concerns over national security and public safety.
The pause applies to people from 19 countries that were already subjected to a partial travel ban in June, placing further restrictions on immigration — a core feature of Trump’s political platform.
The list of countries includes Afghanistan and Somalia.
The official memorandum outlining the new policy cites the attack on US National Guard members in Washington last week, in which an Afghan man has been arrested as a suspect and has pleaded not guilty. One member of the National Guard was killed and another was critically wounded in the shooting.
At a cabinet meeting, Trump says that Somali Americans “contribute nothing” and he berated Ilhan Omar, the outspoken Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota who is originally from Somalia.
“Ilhan Omar is garbage. Her friends are garbage,” Trump says.
“Let them go back to where they came from and fix it.”
Omar later writes of Trump on X, “His obsession with me is creepy. I hope he gets the help he desperately needs.”
Trump last week ended protections against deportations of Somalis in place in the United States since 1991, when Somalia descended into anarchy.
Prosecutors are investigating several plots to steal taxpayer money, allegedly led by members of the Somali community in Minnesota, including by groups that falsely claimed to be feeding children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The list of countries targeted in Wednesday’s memorandum includes Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, which were subjected to the most severe immigration restrictions in June, including a full suspension on entries with a few exceptions.
Others on the list of 19 countries, which were subjected to partial restrictions in June, are Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.