US bans asylum for citizens of 19 countries

The administration of US President Donald Trump has temporarily suspended all asylum applications and immigration support requests from citizens of 19 countries classified as "high-risk."

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) shared the details of the decision with the public through an information note published on its website.

According to the published directive, agency employees have been instructed to "stop processing all Form I-589 (Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal)" and related support applications, regardless of the applicant's nationality, until a comprehensive review is completed.

With a presidential decree signed by Trump on June 5, a travel ban had been implemented for Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.

Under the same decree, restrictions were also placed on the entry of citizens from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela into the US.

All of these countries are included in the "19 high-risk countries" list mentioned in the information note.

ATTACK IN THE CAPITAL WASHINGTON

The Washington Police Department announced that two National Guard members on duty near the White House were shot around 2:15 p.m. local time on November 26, and that a suspect related to the incident had been taken into custody.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel stated that, based on available data, the attack was carried out by a single individual and the suspect had been apprehended.

US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced that the suspect was 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, and that the National Guard members shot were Sarah Beckstrom (20) and Andrew Wolfe (24).

Pirro also stated that Lakanwal would be tried on first-degree murder charges due to the death of Sarah Beckstrom, one of the National Guard members targeted in the attack.

ATTACKER'S CIA CONNECTION

On the other hand, according to reports in the US press, it was alleged that Lakanwal began working for the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Afghanistan when he was just 15 years old, and that he was "disturbed" by the losses resulting from the actions of the unit he was attached to.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, in a statement made during his visit to the Dominican Republic, announced that the number of National Guard members in the capital would be increased following the attack, and that 500 new soldiers would be deployed to Washington under the instructions of President Donald Trump.

News Source: 12punto