Caribbean immigration advocates and Caribbean-American Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke have strongly condemned the Trump administration’s immediate, indefinite “administrative hold” on all processing of immigration paperwork by immigrants from 19 countries, including Haiti, that it placed under a travel ban in June 2025.
Besides Haiti, the other 18 non-European countries include Afghanistan, Burma, Burundi, Chad, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, Laos, Libya, Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Yemen.
All 19 countries, which have either partial or full travel restrictions, have been deemed of concern to the administration.
The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an umbrella policy and advocacy organization that represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York, said the pause suspends green card applications and US citizenship requests, prevents refugees and some others from getting or renewing work authorization, and stops individuals from getting protection for torture and persecution by indefinitely pausing asylum applications.
“Every individual from each country will need an individual review of their case file to move forward,” NYIC President and CEO Murad Awawdeh told Caribbean Life on Wednesday, Dec. 3, stating that the “administrative hold” also halts the completion of citizenship ceremonies for legal US permanent residents from those 19 countries, delaying their path to becoming naturalized American citizens.
“An indefinite pause is a ban, plain and simple,” he added. “The Trump administration is using the recent shooting in DC (Washington) as a pretext for a dangerous escalation of its attacks on immigrants that are rooted in racism and xenophobia.”
Awawdeh said many of the immigrants affected by these policy changes have already undergone extensive vetting, “often taking years, after having arrived in America seeking security, stability, and the opportunity to rebuild their lives.
“Their futures are now in chaos,” he lamented. “People at every stage of the immigration process are already having their lives disrupted, including those who are just one ceremony away from becoming US citizens.
“The actions are despicable and do nothing more than push our immigrant neighbors into the margins,” Awawdeh added. “We urge members of Congress to condemn the Trump administration’s actions and call on the Trump administration to reverse course.”
Congresswoman Clarke, a daughter of Jamaican immigrants who represents the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, also told Caribbean Life that the administration’s decision to freeze green-card and naturalization applications for people from the 19 countries is “an outrageous and discriminatory overreach that undermines our values and endangers the lives and futures of countless families.
“Instead of responding to a single, tragic incident with facts and restraint, the administration has chosen once again to scapegoat immigrants — especially those from predominantly Black, brown, Muslim, and other marginalized nations,” said Clarke, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus.
“We have seen this before,” she added. “We saw it with the Muslim Ban, a policy rooted not in national security but in xenophobia and fearmongering.
“Today’s action is a continuation of that same shameful agenda,” Clarke continued. “This policy will trigger fear and despair among immigrants who have already endured years of vetting, only now to be told their hopes of citizenship and full participation in this country are suddenly on hold.”
The congresswoman noted that due process, individualized review, and evidence-based policy are “the cornerstones of a credible national security strategy — not political opportunism.
“Punishing entire populations for the actions of one person is not only unjust — it is un-American,” Clarke said. “Immigrants from nations across Africa, the Caribbean, the Middle East and beyond are part of the very fabric of American life — contributing immeasurably to our economy, neighborhoods, and our country’s vitality. They deserve fairness, dignity, and a government that treats them as human beings rather than political pawns.
“I stand firmly with immigrant families, asylum seekers, and all those who came to America in search of liberty and opportunity,” she added, urging the Trump administration to “reverse this reckless and unjust suspension immediately.
“I will continue fighting alongside my colleagues to ensure that our laws reflect our values — not fear, bias, or political manipulation,” Clarke added. “Immigration should not be weaponized. Citizenship should not be suspended based on birth or nationality. Our nation is better than this.”
On Dec 2, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) posted a policy memorandum in which it directed its personnel to “place a hold on all Forms I-589 (Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal), regardless of the alien’s country of nationality, pending a comprehensive review.”
It also directed its personnel to “place a hold on pending benefit requests for aliens from countries listed in Presidential Proclamation (PP) 10949, Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals To Protect the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats, pending a comprehensive review, regardless of entry date; and conduct a comprehensive re-review of approved benefit requests for aliens from countries listed in PP 10949 who entered the United States on or after January 20, 2021.”
USCIS said the memorandum “mandates that all aliens meeting these criteria undergo a thorough re-review process, including a potential interview and, if necessary, a re-interview to fully assess all national security and public safety threats along with any other related grounds of inadmissibility or ineligibility.
“An individualized, case-by-case review and assessment will be done of all relevant information and facts,” it added, stating that it will also conduct “a comprehensive review of all relevant policies, procedures, and operational guidance for compliance, accuracy and needed improvements during this time.
“This guidance outlines the adjudicative hold, procedural requirements, and processes for the rereview, interview, or re-interview of affected aliens,” continued USCIS, stating that “personnel are instructed to prioritize national security and public safety concerns and ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations during the adjudication process.”
USCIS noted that, on Jan. 20, 2025, Trump issued Executive Order (EO) 14161, titled Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorist and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats, which “aims to safeguard US citizens from aliens who may seek to commit terrorist acts, pose threats to national security, promote hateful ideologies, or exploit immigration laws for malicious purposes.
“EO 14161 underscores the importance of vigilance during the visa issuance process to ensure that individuals approved for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans or compromise US national interests,” USCIS said.
“Recently, the United States has seen what a lack of screening, vetting, and prioritizing expedient adjudications can do to the American people,” it added, noting that an Afghan national, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, “planned a terrorist attack in the United States on Election Day 2024.”
USCIS said Tawhedi pled guilty in federal court to conspiring and attempting to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).
In another instance, USCIS said an Afghan national, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is “suspected of planning and executing a terrorist attack in Washington, DC against two National Guard members, one who was killed and another who remains critically injured.
“In light of identified concerns and the threat to the American people, USCIS has determined that a comprehensive re-review, potential interview, and re-interview of all aliens from high-risk countries of concern who entered the United States on or after January 20, 2021 is necessary,” the memo said. It also said “USCIS may, when appropriate, extend this review and re-interview process to aliens who entered the United States outside of this timeframe.”
Tanya Greene, US director for Human Rights Watch, said, “Nothing meaningfully links these 19 countries except the administration’s opportunistic stigmatization and exclusion of people based on where they were born.
“This sweeping change is not about safety; it is about scapegoating entire nationalities for the actions of one individual,” she said. “This policy will tear families apart, endanger people fleeing persecution and further damage US credibility on human rights.”
The National Immigrant Justice Center also said in a statement that the Trump administration is “using the tragic shooting of two national guard members to scapegoat and roll out yet another ban on Black and brown migrants.
“Where there is grief and heartbreak, the Trump administration sees opportunity — i.e, the opportunity to unveil more racist and anti-immigrant policies.
“Neither of these policies are responsive to the tragic events of last week,” it added. “These actions will put countless individuals and families in limbo and jeopardize their right to due process and protection under US and international law.”
Awawdeh said the Trump administration’s latest announcements are “part of an ongoing campaign to attack immigrants’ legal status and dismantle lawful pathways to safety.
“These cruel actions reflect a strategy to put increasing numbers of people on a direct path toward deportation, no matter the cost to our families, communities, or economy,” he said.
In a White House Proclamation, on June 4, 2025, Trump said he was “restricting the entry of foreign nationals to protect the United States from foreign terrorists and other national security and public safety threats.”
At the time, Trump said he had “determined to fully restrict and limit the entry” of nationals from 12 countries including Haiti, Afghanistan, Burma, Iran and Libya, and primarily from African countries – Chad, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
The US president also said he had “determined to partially restrict and limit the entry of nationals” from seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
At the same time, the administration has been unrelenting in deporting undocumented, and often documented, Caribbean and other immigrants.
On Sunday, NYIC, elected officials, member organizations, allies and immigrant New Yorkers rallied and held a press conference at a federally-owned parking garage in lower Manhattan.
The day before, several immigrants were arrested amid a protest outside the entrance of the parking garage, where dozens of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents appeared to be gathering for an immigration raid nearby.
Awawdeh said the protest led to scuffles with NYPD officers.
He said, while police officers are barred from colluding with ICE in New York City, due to sanctuary protections, “they continue to provide ‘crowd management’ assistance to federal agents – which led to increased tensions with protesters.
“Hundreds of New Yorkers gathered today to stop ICE from attacking our neighbors,” Awawdeh said. “Instead of protecting the residents of our city, the NYPD violently confronted and arrested protesters. New York is a sanctuary city, and the NYPD has no business collaborating with ICE.
“The violence that occurred today could have been avoided had ICE agents not escalated tensions,” he added. “But instead of holding federal agents accountable for their aggressive tactics, the NYPD instead helped facilitate ICE’s campaign of terror. ICE must stop wreaking havoc across New York — separating families and harming our communities.
“The NYPD must immediately release the New Yorkers who they arrested, and stop all collaboration with ICE,” Awawdeh continued. “Our police force should be using its resources to improve public safety for all New Yorkers.”
Natalia Aristizabal, deputy director of the immigration group Make the Road New York, said that “the NYPD’s response, to escalate tensions, violence, and make arrests, all to clear the way for ICE, runs counter to the spirit of the laws and culture of our city.
“The NYPD must release all New Yorkers arrested and stop facilitating ICE’s actions,” she added. “New Yorkers will not back down in defense of our neighbors, our communities, and our rights, on Canal Street (in lower Manhattan), in Corona (Queens), or on any block in our city.”
