The United States government has announced a comprehensive review of all green cards issued to nationals of 19 specified countries as part of its expanded immigration scrutiny.

The action forms part of President Donald Trump’s intensified measures on immigration following the shooting of two national guard members by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national living in the United States under a special protection programme.

Joe Edlow, Director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), confirmed the development in a post on X on Thursday, stating that the move follows a direct presidential order. He said, “At the direction of @POTUS, I have directed a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern.” He added that national security remains the administration’s top priority, noting that “American safety is non negotiable.”

The affected countries are Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Nigeria is not included on the list.

According to the USCIS, immigration vetting for nationals of these 19 countries will now include “negative, country specific factors,” including concerns about each country’s ability “to issue secure identity documents.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) further announced an immediate halt to the processing of all immigration-related requests for Afghan nationals pending a fresh review of security and vetting protocols. It added that all asylum cases approved under former President Joe Biden are also being re-examined.

Lakanwal, whose case triggered renewed controversy around immigration vetting, entered the United States in 2021 under a programme designed to protect Afghans following the withdrawal of US troops. Authorities have confirmed that he previously worked with the CIA in Afghanistan.

Donald J. Trump has announced that his administration will permanently pause migration from all “Third World countries.”

According to his statement, “Third World countries” refers to least developed or developing nations with high poverty, economic instability, and other social, political or environmental challenges — examples listed include Sudan, Chad, Niger, Benin, Pakistan, and Nigeria.

In a Thanksgiving-day message, Trump criticized what he described as decades of failed immigration policies that, he claimed, left the United States “divided, disrupted, carved up, murdered, beaten, mugged, and laughed at.”

He argued that the foreign-born population in the U.S. has reached 53 million, contending that many migrants come from “failed nations, prisons, mental institutions, gangs, or drug cartels.”

Trump said that granting green cards to migrants earning about $30,000 a year translates into roughly $50,000 per year in benefits for their families. He described this as a “refugee burden” and blamed it for social dysfunction including “failed schools, high crime, urban decay, overcrowded hospitals, housing shortages, and large deficits.”

He also singled out refugee communities, citing Somalian refugees in Minnesota as an example, saying “Somalian gangs are roving the streets looking for ‘prey’ as our wonderful people stay locked in their apartments and houses hoping against hope that they will be left alone.”

To address these concerns, Trump vowed to terminate what he described as the “millions of Biden illegal admissions,” remove individuals deemed not “net assets” to the United States, and end all federal benefits and subsidies for non-citizens. He pledged to denaturalize migrants who “undermine domestic tranquility” and deport foreign nationals considered public charges, security risks, or “non-compatible with Western Civilization.”

He said the objective is “a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations,” including those admitted through what he called an unauthorized “Autopen approval process.”

Trump concluded his message by stating, “Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation,” adding that migrants who “hate, steal, murder, and destroy everything that America stands for” would not remain in the United States for long.

The decision follows a shooting near the White House in Washington, D.C., that reportedly involved an Afghan national who had entered the U.S. under a resettlement programme in 2021.

No fewer than 50 Nigerians have been arrested in one of India’s largest coordinated operations targeting a transnational narcotics network linked to a wide-ranging drug-distribution and hawala laundering syndicate operating across several major cities.

According to a report on Thursday by NDTV, the crackdown was executed by the Delhi Police in collaboration with the Telangana Police’s EAGLE unit. The arrests followed months of intelligence gathering and simultaneous raids across Delhi, which dismantled key segments of a cartel responsible for moving methamphetamine and cocaine across the country.

Investigators found that the syndicate maintained an extensive customer base, using encrypted communication channels and delivery methods similar to food-delivery apps to conduct drug “dead drops” and avoid direct contact with buyers.

“The network was extremely sophisticated. They used layered communication channels and app-based delivery patterns to evade law-enforcement detection,” the report stated.

Authorities also uncovered that the cartel’s distribution network was intertwined with a sex-trade ring that provided both cover and logistics for drug circulation. “Investigators have identified approximately 2,000 individuals who were supplied drugs through courier and dead-drop methods,” the report added.

According to the findings, “the sex trade was used as a cover for drug supply and distribution,” expanding the syndicate’s criminal reach.

The report further noted that the massive operation, conducted with support from police teams in Noida, Vizag, and Gwalior, culminated in the arrest of 50 Nigerian nationals in Delhi after extensive surveillance and intelligence-driven coordination.

On the financial front, investigators revealed that the cartel channelled proceeds through hawala operators who converted illicit earnings into tradable goods—such as garments and human hair—exported to Lagos, Nigeria, to disguise the drug profits as legitimate commerce. “The proceeds from drug sales were funnelled through local hawala operators… shipped to Lagos, Nigeria, effectively cleaning the illicit earnings,” the report stated.

One identified kingpin is alleged to have laundered at least ₹15 crore through these channels, according to the report.

The arrests mark a significant milestone in India’s ongoing multi-agency efforts to dismantle persistent synthetic-drug cartels. Previous Nigerian-linked drug busts in Bengaluru, Delhi, and Goa had highlighted growing concerns over transnational methamphetamine networks.

Indian police describe this latest coordinated operation—which netted 50 Nigerian suspects—as a major breakthrough against an “entrenched and continually evolving” narcotics supply chain. Officials say the next phase of the investigation will focus on tightening immigration checks, tracking hawala operators, and identifying other cartel commanders believed to be operating from outside India.