WASHINGTON: The United States government has changed its immigration rules and resumed processing asylum applications for some refugees, raising hopes for the reopening of thousands of pending cases.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) now permits specific asylum applications which the agency had banned during the previous year according to a report from Reuters. The ban started in November 2025 after a refugee shot at National Guard personnel which caused President Donald Trump to order an end to all asylum procedures.
USCIS announced that processing will now resume for asylum seekers from countries deemed to be “low risk,” although the exact list of these countries has not been released. The agency emphasized that the screening and security vetting process will be even more stringent to ensure national security.
The United States had already strengthened its immigration regulations because of security threats which resulted in travel bans against multiple nations and further extensions of those bans.
Experts predict that this decision will permit thousands of asylum cases to proceed through the hearing process while applicants from “high-risk” nations will still face entry restrictions.
The United States established immigration and asylum restrictions for 19 countries in December 2025 because of national security concerns. The move to block applications for Afghan passport holders and other migrants has ended because processing of these applications will now resume.
