The Trump administration announced a sweeping ban on immigration applications from 19 countries. Citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela are affected. This move followed the DC shooting involving an Afghan refugee but these countries were already part of Trump's travel ban list. Immigration expert Brad Bernstein said the ban is broad. "If you are from any of the countries, your case is on hold. That's marriage cases, adopted children of US citizens, visitors' visas, students' visas, naturalization, Green Card applications, all visa applications, asylum...you are frozen at the moment," Bernstein explained. He noted that people affected must maintain lawful status and wait for policy or legal changes. "They say there's going to be exceptions based on humanitarian reasons. But that's going to be completely inconsistent. And calling this a national security issue does not change how unprecedented this is in United States history. Expect class action lawsuits, injunctions, individualized mandamus requests for people whose cases are on hold," Bernstein added. The new memo also puts all pending asylum applications on hold for all countries, not just the 19 listed. It says, "All Forms I-589 applications are on hold now," pending a comprehensive review. Additionally, the memo calls for a re-review of approved requests from the 19 countries for individuals who entered the US on or after January 20, 2021. This sudden freeze creates confusion and pauses many immigration processes, impacting thousands of applicants across a wide range of visa categories.