Trump immigration application pause throws lives in limbo

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1:01It's Consider This where every day we go deep on one big news story. Today, the real-life consequence of the Trump administration's aggressive immigration moves. This particular immigration policy began last year. My great fellow Americans, earlier today on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, two members of the National Guard serving in Washington, D.C., were shot at point-blank range. That's President Trump speaking last November. On the afternoon of November 26th, Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe were shot when on patrol a few blocks from the White House.

1:38Beckstrom later died of her injuries. Rachmaninoff Lelakhanwal, the man charged with the shooting, is an Afghan national. He worked with U.S. forces in Afghanistan and was granted asylum under the Trump administration. After the shooting, Trump announced a pause on asylum decisions. And we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country. If they can't love our country, we don't want them. The U.S. stopped reviewing immigration applications filed from people who were born in Afghanistan and 38 other countries.

2:14Five months later, the applications from the people in those countries are still in limbo. Consider this. The lives of hundreds of thousands of people hang in the balance. And for people already living in the U.S., the impact has been catastrophic.

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3:38It's Consider This from NPR. The Trump administration says its November pause of immigration applications from people in 39 countries is because of a national security risk. Many of those affected are students, engineers and others who are living and working here legally. NPR's Ximena Bustillo has the story. P came to the U.S. on a student visa in 2023. I told the consular officer that I had a lot to contribute to the United States. And I was granted the visa. I came to the United States. and now it looks like it's a whole lot different. He is originally from Nigeria. We're using his first initial because he's afraid his immigration application could be negatively impacted by speaking with NPR.

4:23He graduated with a master's in engineering from a Texas university last December. But because he was born in Nigeria, one of the countries on the government's list, his application to have a work permit is on hold. This occupies me right now. Like I wake up in the morning, the first course of action is to go on my PC and check if there's been some big change. And it just seems to take over me like all day. P was hoping to work in the oil and gas industry. Instead, he has been unable to have any job at all. Basically as it stands right now, I barely can pay rent. I barely can feed. I barely can pay bills.

5:11It is overwhelming and it's sad. He is one of hundreds of thousands already at risk of losing status because they come from one of these countries the Trump administration has deemed a risk to national security. Last year, after an Afghan national was charged in the shooting of two National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C., the Trump administration paused reviewing any application filed from people who were born in Afghanistan and 38 other countries. Zachary New is an immigration lawyer in Colorado. So over the course of the last four months where people have been losing status, losing work authorization, being pulled from naturalization oath ceremonies, medical residents who haven't been able to be placed.

5:58He is on a lawsuit representing over 500 people in these situations. These are all people who are trying to do things the right way. So by suddenly not having an option for doing things the right way, folks are kind of panicking. NPR spoke with over a dozen people whose permissions to live and work in the U.S. are paused. Some are recent graduates. Others are recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program who came to the U.S. as children. A lives in Ohio and is from Myanmar. She also spoke to NPR anonymously out of fear of repercussions for her applications. She came to the U.S.

6:34in 2016 for her bachelor's degree, and she was renewing her work permit and applying for a green card when the pause hit. It hits really hard because I was actually in line for a promotion in July. Now both processes are paused and her work permit expires in July. I work in regulatory compliance for cancer clinical trials. We've been trying to prepare for this by making sure that all my loose ends are tied up and transitioning studies to other people where we can. I know it's early, but I also handle the biggest team in the cancer center. Lawyers warn that the effects of the pause won't just be felt by immigrants waiting on their visas, but major companies, hospitals, and the firms they work for.

7:23U.S. citizens are also impacted. Isaac Neves Gomez is a U.S. citizen. He and his wife are both from Venezuela. They got married last summer, and although his wife is also a citizen of Italy and Uruguay, Naves Gomez said it was an easy choice for them to live in America. That was entirely on me. This is my country, you know. I have no allegiance to any other country besides the United States. Since Venezuela is on the travel ban list, the process to petition his wife's green card is paused. We can't have a family. I can't add her to health insurance. We can't plan ahead to buy a house because every mortgage company requests social security number and credit history, which she doesn't have.

8:05It basically has limited our marriage just because of that Venezuelan birth. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is the agency that reviews these applications, said in a statement to NPR that the pause is necessary while it vets and screens people who could be risks to the U.S. Lawmakers questioned USCIS Director Joseph Edlow about general delays in reviewing applications during a recent congressional hearing. Here's how he responded. I consider this to be short-term pain, which is going to really lead to long-term gain in the fair and proper processing of immigration. But immigrants feeling that pain are pushing for faster answers.

8:47There are about three dozen pending lawsuits over the pause, according to New, the Colorado lawyer. In at least one lawsuit, a federal judge mandated USCIS review the applications of 33 individuals. The rest are still waiting. These aren't individuals who are suddenly jumping into the shadow economy and trying to work without authorization. News says that as more people lose status, the damage becomes harder to repair. People are losing jobs. People are losing placement in medical residency. People are losing status. And those things are not something that just goes away by processing starting again.

9:27And there's no sense of when or if the pause will lift. Jimena Bustillo, NPR News, Washington.

10:03It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Scott Detrow. This message comes from Babbel. Babbel's conversation-based language technique teaches you useful words and phrases to get you speaking quickly about the things you actually talk about in the real world. With lessons handcrafted by over 200 language experts and voiced by real native speakers, start speaking with Babbel today. Get up to 55 % off your Babbel subscription right now at babbel.com slash NPR. Spelled B-A-B-B-E-L dot com slash NPR. Rules and restrictions may apply.