❓WHAT HAPPENED: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has lifted its total ban on reviewing asylum applications, though restrictions remain for around 40 countries.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: DHS, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The pause was implemented in November 2025 following a deadly attack on the National Guard in Washington, D.C., by an Afghan national.
💬KEY QUOTE: “USCIS has lifted the adjudicative hold for thoroughly screened asylum seekers from non-high-risk countries.” – DHS spokesman.
🎯IMPACT: The move reallocates resources to focus on national security and public safety vetting for higher-risk cases.
The Trump administration has moved to lift the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) hold on reviewing asylum applications, though the department stresses that restrictions continue to remain in place for around 40 countries of particular national security concern. In November last year, President Donald J. Trump directed DHS to impose a pause on processing asylum claims after an Afghan national shot two National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C., killing one.
At the time, then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem indicated the pause in reviews would be indefinite as the department worked through a backlog of nearly four million asylum cases. Importantly, the hold on reviews continues to apply to countries deemed “high risk,” including Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, and multiple African nations.
“USCIS has lifted the adjudicative hold for thoroughly screened asylum seekers from non-high-risk countries,” a DHS spokesman said on Monday, adding, “This move allows resources to focus on continued rigorous national security and public safety vetting for higher-risk cases.”
Importantly, other restrictions remain in effect, such as the pause on issuing immigrant visas to 75 countries and the halt of immigration applications from nations covered by President Trump’s travel ban. Late last year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began a re-review of foreign nationals granted refugee status by the former Biden government, applying more rigorous scrutiny to the applicants. A number of these individuals have subsequently been referred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for deportation.
Join Pulse+ to comment below, and receive exclusive e-mail analyses.