Trump administration to re-examine green card holders from 19 countries 'of concern'

The announcement comes a day after an attack on National Guard troops near the White House. Authorities have identified the suspect as an Afghan national.

President Donald Trump has directed the federal agency that oversees legal immigration to the U.S. to conduct a sweeping review of green card holders from what the administration calls countries of concern, the head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said Thursday.

“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,” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said Thursday afternoon in a statement on X.

Edlow said that protecting the country “remains paramount” and that “the American people will not bear the cost of the prior administration’s reckless resettlement policies.”

Asked for details on which countries are considered “of concern,” USCIS pointed to a June presidential proclamation listing 19 countries "considered deficient with regards to screening and vetting." Afghanistan is one of the countries on the list, which also includes Haiti, Iran and Venezuela.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Miami field office.Wilfredo Lee / APThe USCIS announcement comes a day after two National Guard members were shot near the White House. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died of her wounds, Trump said Thursday night, while 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe remained hospitalized in critical condition. They were in Washington as part of Trump’s deployment of federal troops to several U.S. cities.