The United States government has announced a sweeping review of all Green Cards issued to citizens of 19 countries, following the November 26 attack on National Guard troops in Washington, D.C.

The Trump administration disclosed the decision on Thursday after authorities identified the detained suspect as a 29-year-old Afghan national who had previously worked alongside American forces in Afghanistan.

According to AfghanEvac, an organisation involved in the resettlement of Afghans after the Taliban’s 2021 takeover, the suspect was granted asylum in April 2025—not permanent residency.

In response, the administration has launched what officials describe as a “full-scale re-examination” of all Green Cards issued to immigrants from designated “countries of concern.”

Announcing the directive on X, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow said President Trump had ordered a “rigorous re-examination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern,” stressing that protecting Americans was “paramount” and that the U.S. would “not bear the cost of the prior administration’s reckless resettlement policies.”

Under the new order, USCIS is now empowered to consider “negative, country-specific factors” when evaluating Green Card applications from nationals of the 19 affected countries, ten of which are in Africa.

The policy applies to all pending applications as well as any submitted on or after November 27, 2025, giving immigration officers broad latitude to delay decisions, request further evidence, or issue denials.

The Implications for Africa are significant. The U.S. remains a major destination for skilled workers, students, and refugees across the continent, and the expanded scrutiny is expected to worsen visa backlogs, heighten uncertainty for families, and reinforce longstanding concerns that national-security classifications disproportionately target African states. Countries such as Somalia, Eritrea, and Sudan already face stringent U.S. immigration restrictions, and analysts warn that the new review could further entrench these barriers.

These are the African countries affected by the US Green Card Review:

Burundi

Chad

Republic of the Congo

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Libya

Sierra Leone

Somalia

Sudan

Togo

(The Nation)