The United States government says it will review green cards that were issued to migrants from 19 countries as part of a new check on its immigration system. Nigeria is not on the list.
The decision follows the recent incident involving Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national accused of shooting two members of the US National Guard. The case has led to stronger security measures ordered by President Donald Trump.
Joe Edlow, who heads the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, said in a post on X that he ordered a full review of green cards belonging to people from nations seen as high risk. He wrote that the US must protect its citizens and that the public “will not bear the cost of the prior administration’s reckless resettlement policies”.
The countries involved in the review are 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 immigration agency said the new screening will consider negative factors linked to each of the listed nations. This includes whether the countries can provide secure identity documents for their citizens.
The Department of Homeland Security also announced that it will stop handling all immigration requests tied to Afghan nationals until it completes a new security review. It said the move takes effect right away. The agency added that it is also reassessing asylum cases approved during the administration of former President Joe Biden.
Lakanwal arrived in the US in 2021 through a programme created for Afghans after the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. Officials have confirmed that he had worked with the CIA while in his home country.