Donald Trump says US asylum pause for 19 countries will last ‘long time’

US President Donald Trump has said his administration intends to maintain a pause on asylum decisions for a “long time”, following last week’s shooting that targeted two National Guard members near the White House.

President Trump said he had “no time limit” in mind for the measure, which the Department of Homeland Security has linked to enhanced security reviews involving applicants from 19 countries already subject to US travel restrictions.

“We don’t want those people. We have enough problems,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One. “Many of them are no good and they shouldn’t be in our country.”

Donald Trump US asylum pause

The Trump administration suspended all asylum decisions after a November 26 shooting near the White House that killed a National Guard member in her twenties and seriously injured another.

The president said he intends to permanently halt immigration from what he described as “Third World countries”‌ to allow the US system to “fully recover”.

Meanwhile, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) stated that asylum decisions will remain halted until all applicants undergo the highest level of security screening. 

19 countries subject to US travel restrictions

• Afghanistan
• Burma (Myanmar)
• Burundi
• Chad
• Cuba
• Republic of the Congo
• Equatorial Guinea
• Eritrea
• Haiti
• Iran
• Laos
• Libya
• Sierra Leone
• Somalia
• Sudan
• Togo
• Turkmenistan
• Venezuela
• Yemen