U.S. President Donald Trump warned Sunday that the suspension of decisions on asylum applications, as part of his order to “curb” immigration from third-world countries after Wednesday’s shooting in Washington, will remain in place for “a long time.”
The president did not want to give a time limit to the suspension imposed last Friday by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on asylum decisions, which would affect those awaiting a decision from that agency.
Asylum decisions suspended indefinitely
🇺🇸🔴 US President Donald Trump mentioned that the suspension of asylum in the US will last “a long time.
When questioned about how long his administration plans to suspend the asylum, he responded:
“We don’t want those people. We have enough problems…… pic.twitter.com/KvPTTIJ0y8
– Canal Antigua (@CanalAntigua) December 1, 2025
The suspension does not affect asylum cases being evaluated by U.S. immigration courts.
The postponement is part of a series of actions taken by the Trump Administration following Wednesday’s shooting in which an Afghan national allegedly fired at the National Guard in Washington D.C., leaving one officer dead and another in critical condition.
Trump ordered a “permanent” halt to the migration of foreigners from 19 countries considered ‘third world’.
In this regard, the U.S. president said on Sunday that “possibly” there will be more countries included in the list.
“These are countries with high crime rates. They are countries that don’t function well … that don’t stand out for their success and, frankly, we don’t need their people coming to our country to tell us what to do,” the president said, adding, “We don’t want those people.”
USCIS had already announced on Thursday a “rigorous review” of green cards for migrants from 19 countries of “concern,” including Afghanistan, Cuba, Venezuela and Haiti.
And it also reported the suspension of migration applications from Afghans on Wednesday, minutes after a message to the nation from Trump, who blamed the immigration policies of his predecessor, Joe Biden (2021-2025), for the entry of the alleged perpetrator, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, and the subsequent attack.
This Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in an interview with NBC News that the suspect was radicalized “since coming to this country.”
Lakanwal was part of a CIA-backed military unit in Afghanistan, and in 2021, when U.S. troops withdrew from the country, he was transferred to the U.S. under the wing of the ‘Operation Allies Welcome’ program.
With information from EFE
