The Trump administration is renewing the processing of asylum applications from certain countries, scaling back current restrictions. The Homeland Security Department lifted its blanket pause on reviewing asylum applications, but the pause remains for approximately 40 countries.
The Trump administration in November paused the processing of some 4 million asylum applications filed to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem called the move a national security necessity, stating the pause would be indefinite while the agency worked through its backlog.
The hold on processing will remain for three dozen countries labeled as "high risk" with travel restrictions to the U.S. The list primarily includes countries in Africa, along with Iran, Afghanistan, and Syria.
A DHS spokesperson told NPR that USCIS has lifted the adjudicative hold for thoroughly screened asylum seekers from non-high-risk countries. Maximum screening and vetting will continue. The spokesperson added that this move allows resources to focus on continued rigorous national security and public safety vetting for higher-risk cases.
The Trump administration maintains separate pauses on issuing immigrant visas for 75 countries and on all immigration applications from countries covered by the travel ban. DHS began taking steps toward the end of last year to further pause and review these legal avenues of migration.
USCIS announced it would re-review the status of everyone admitted into the U.S. as a refugee under the Biden administration, essentially reopening those cases. Some of those cases have been referred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation.
The Transportation Security Administration issued its employees back pay after Donald Trump signed an order for them to be paid. Acting assistant secretary of public affairs at the DHS, Lauren Bis, said that most TSA employees received a retroactive paycheck that included at least two full paychecks. The agency is working aggressively to send a third half-paycheck that employees are owed.
The paychecks appear to have relieved severe congestion at airport TSA checkpoints, which resulted in hours-long lines at several major air hubs over the past two weeks. The official websites of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta international airport, the George Bush intercontinental airport in Houston and the Philadelphia international airport all reported short wait times at TSA checkpoints on Monday afternoon.
The Trump administration is renewing the processing of asylum applications from certain countries, scaling back current restrictions. The Homeland Security Department lifted its blanket pause on reviewing asylum applications, but the pause remains for approximately 40 countries.
The Trump administration paused the processing of roughly 4 million asylum applications filed to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in November. The pause followed a November 26, 2025, shooting in Washington, D.C., where an Afghan national shot two National Guardsmen. One of the Guard members died the next day. Then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem called the move a national security necessity, stating the pause would be indefinite while the agency worked through its backlog.
The hold on processing will remain for three dozen countries labeled as "high risk" with travel restrictions to the U.S. The list primarily includes countries in Africa, along with Iran, Afghanistan, and Syria.
A DHS spokesperson told NPR that USCIS has lifted the adjudicative hold for thoroughly screened asylum seekers from non-high-risk countries. Maximum screening and vetting will continue. The spokesperson added that this move allows resources to focus on continued rigorous national security and public safety vetting for higher-risk cases.
Pauses on legal migration remain in effect, including a pause on issuing immigrant visas for 75 countries and a pause on all immigration applications from countries covered by the travel ban. DHS began taking steps toward the end of last year to further pause and review these legal avenues of migration.
USCIS announced it would re-review the status of everyone admitted into the U.S. as a refugee under the Biden administration, essentially reopening those cases. Some of those cases have been referred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation.
The Transportation Security Administration issued its employees back pay after Donald Trump signed an order for them to be paid. Acting assistant secretary of public affairs at the DHS, Lauren Bis, said that most TSA employees received a retroactive paycheck that included at least two full paychecks. The agency is working aggressively to send a third half-paycheck that employees are owed.
The paychecks appear to have relieved severe congestion at airport TSA checkpoints, which resulted in hours-long lines at several major air hubs over the past two weeks. The official websites of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta international airport, the George Bush intercontinental airport in Houston and the Philadelphia international airport all reported short wait times at TSA checkpoints on Monday afternoon.
After federal agents dispatched to Minneapolis shot and killed two US citizens in January, Democrats refused to back a key funding bill for the DHS unless Republicans agreed to impose guardrails on immigration enforcement operations, including that officers cease wearing masks and obtain judicial warrants to enter homes and businesses. Both chambers are on recess for the next weeks, and it appears unlikely that the standoff will be resolved before then.
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The sources also report that the pause on asylum processing was part of a response to an incident involving an Afghan national who shot two National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C.