The head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Thursday that the agency will conduct a sweeping review of all green cards issued to immigrants from what the Trump administration calls “countries of concern.”
USCIS Director Joe Edlow confirmed the directive on X, writing: “At the direction of @POTUS, I have directed a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern.”
When asked which nations are affected, USCIS pointed to a list of 19 countries identified in a June presidential proclamation. These include: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
The Department of Homeland Security said it is also reviewing asylum approvals granted under the Biden administration.
Why Is the Review Happening?
The decision comes one day after President Donald Trump cited the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C. as justification for tighter immigration controls.
The administration’s response follows new details about Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national accused of shooting two National Guardsmen near the White House on Wednesday.
Who Is Rahmanullah Lakanwal?
According to Afghan Evac, a nonprofit assisting Special Immigrant Visa applicants:
- Lakanwal served with NDS-03, a CIA-backed Afghan paramilitary unit.
- The unit operated from “Camp Gecko,” a former Taliban compound linked to Mullah Omar.
- He worked in Kandahar, Helmand, and Uruzgan provinces.
Lakanwal entered the United States legally in 2021 under humanitarian parole through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden-era program for Afghans who assisted U.S. forces.
His asylum application was approved in April 2025 during the Trump administration.
Officials React: Vetting Under Scrutiny
At a Thursday press conference, U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro sharply criticized the vetting process that allowed Lakanwal into the country, saying it showed what happens “when people are allowed in who are not properly vetted.”
FBI Director Kash Patel echoed the criticism, claiming the Biden administration admitted
“thousands of people into this country without doing a single piece of background checking or vetting.”
The Trump administration argues the expanded review is necessary to prevent security lapses and ensure all individuals from high-risk nations meet updated screening standards.
