Trump orders big US Green Card crackdown. Will it hit Indians?

US President Donald Trump has directed US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to conduct a comprehensive review of every Green Card held by permanent residents from 19 countries previously classified as "countries of concern", following a deadly shooting of two Guard members in Washington DC.

The US called the attack an "act of terror", increasing scrutiny on immigrants as the attacker was Afghan.

Under the new guidance issued by USCIS, officers might treat an applicant's country of origin as a major "adverse factor" when evaluating immigration status. The review applies to all permanent residents from the 19 "countries of concern", even if their Green Cards were approved under prior administrations.

The 19 nations on the list include Afghanistan, Myanmar, Iran, Somalia, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Cuba, and Venezuela.

However, the move will not affect Indians. But experts caution that the measure is part of a wider immigration crackdown and might hint at additional policy shifts.

Explaining the tightened Green Card security measures, USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said the new policy empowers officers to consider an applicant's country of origin as a strong adverse factor when evaluating immigration benefits.

"My primary responsibility is to ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible," Edlow said. "American lives come first," he said.

Officials said the 19 affected countries match those listed in a June presidential proclamation imposing full or partial entry suspensions.

MOVE TARGETS SAME 19 COUNTRIES NAMED IN JUNE PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE

Officials said the 19 affected countries match those listed in a June presidential proclamation imposing full or partial entry suspensions: 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.

Trump's directive came a day after Guard troops in Washington were shot near the White House by an Afghan national. One of the two Guard members shot succumbed to her injuries on Friday.

Edlow stated that the updated guidance is a direct response to the shooting incident, alleging that the Biden administration spent four years weakening fundamental vetting and screening procedures while focusing on expedited resettlement from high-risk nations.

The 29-year-old suspect, an Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the US in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration programme that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the US withdrawal from the country. Lakanwal had served alongside the US Special Forces in Afghanistan. He was a soldier in the Afghanistan army for over a decade.

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