Nigeria Excluded As US Launches Review Of Green Cards For ‘Countries Of Concern’

Nigerians are not affected by the United States’ latest immigration directive ordering a sweeping re-examination of all green cards issued to nationals of 19 “countries of concern.”

The review followed President Donald Trump’s renewed immigration crackdown after two National Guard members were shot by an Afghan national, Rahmanullah Lakanwal.

Director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Joe Edlow, announced the policy shift in a statement posted on X on Thursday.

Edlow wrote, stressing that protecting the United States remains “paramount.”

The affected countries include Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

The exclusion of Nigeria means that its citizens remain unaffected by the new review.

USCIS explained that immigration vetting for individuals from the listed countries will now factor in “negative, country-specific considerations,” such as the ability of those nations to issue secure and verifiable identity documents.

In a parallel announcement, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that it has immediately halted all immigration processing related to Afghan nationals pending a review of security and vetting procedures.

The agency also disclosed that all asylum approvals granted under former President Joe Biden were being re-evaluated.

Lakanwal, whose case triggered the renewed policy scrutiny, entered the United States in 2021 under a special immigration programme for Afghans who supported US missions following the withdrawal of American troops.

Authorities later confirmed that he had previously worked alongside the CIA in Afghanistan.

The US government has not indicated whether more countries will be added to the review list, but Nigerian nationals currently face no additional scrutiny under the new directive.