UPDATE 2 - US immigration chief orders sweeping review of green cards for 'countries of concern'

UPDATES HEADLINE, ADDS DECK, INFORMATION ON COUNTRIES OF CONCERN, ADDITIONAL REMARKS BY OFFICIAL

By Merve Aydogan, Gizem Nisa Demir

HAMILTON, Canada/ISTANBUL, Türkiye (AA) - The head of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Thursday that the agency has launched a sweeping review of green card holders from "countries of concern" following a directive from President Donald Trump.

"At the direction of President Donald Trump, I have directed a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern," Joseph Edlow said on US social media company X.

He said "the protection of this country and of the American people remains paramount," and "the American people will not bear the cost of the prior administration's reckless resettlement policies."

"American safety is non-negotiable," he added.

Pressed for further clarification, specifically, which nations fall under the category of “of concern”, USCIS directed CNN to a list of 19 countries cited in a June presidential proclamation.

Those nations are Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

In a subsequent statement, the USCIS said the agency will incorporate “negative, country specific factors” into its screening procedures for immigrants from these 19 countries, noting that such considerations include whether a government is capable “to issue secure identity documents.”

- 2 National Guard members shot; 1 died, other critically wounded

The statements came after the Trump administration intensified its immigration restrictions after two members of the US National Guard were shot and critically wounded in the nation's capital, Washington, DC, on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday.

One of the Guard members has died, Trump announced Thursday.

"Sarah Beckstrom of West Virginia, one of the guardsmen that we’re talking about, a highly respected, young, magnificent person ... She’s just passed away," he said in a video call with members of the US military.

He was speaking from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, in his first live remarks since the shooter opened fire blocks away from the White House in what authorities called a "targeted" attack.

The other Guard member, Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, also from West Virginia, remains in critical condition.

- Suspected gunman Rahmanullah Lakanwal

Authorities identified the suspected gunman as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an Afghan national, who was taken into custody after Wednesday's attack.

Lakanwal previously worked with multiple US government agencies, including the CIA, during the US war in Afghanistan, according to intelligence officials cited by Fox News.

Asked if he blames all Afghan nationals over the attack by Lakanwal, Trump said: "We've had a lot of problems with Afghans because they had a lot of them coming in on these planes" and accused them of being "criminals."

He said Afghan nationals with legal status in the US "can't be happy with what’s going on.”

"They can't be happy. Because what's taking place between that, if you look at Somalia, they're taking over Minnesota," the president added.

Speaking in the call with service members, Trump also vowed to ban the entry of Somali nationals and claimed that "they're ripping off our country at a level that few people have been able to see before."

About Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Somali-American, he claimed that she "does nothing but complain about our country and our Constitution."

"She comes from a country with practically, it's practically no country. It's devastated, it's crime-ridden, it's a mess, it's a disgrace," he said, emphasizing that the US is "not taking their people and we're getting a lot of their people out because they're nothing but trouble."

- 'Trump administration reviews all asylum cases approved under Biden'

The USCIS earlier announced that it had paused all immigration processing for Afghan nationals, issuing Thursday’s statement shortly after the shooting. The agency did not say when processing might resume.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees USCIS, said it is also reassessing all asylum approvals issued during former President Joe Biden’s tenure.

“Effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to CNN.

“The Trump Administration is also reviewing all asylum cases approved under the Biden Administration.”