President Donald Trump said on Nov. 30 that the freeze on asylum decisions, which was imposed following the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, will likely be in place indefinitely.
His comments came after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph B. Edlow announced that the agency has halted all asylum decisions until it can ensure that “every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”
When asked about how long the administration intends to pause asylum decisions, Trump said the measure has “no time limit” and could extend for “a long time.”
“We don’t want those people. We have enough problems,” the president told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Trump said he was referring to “people from different countries that are not friendly to us,” and from “countries that are out of control themselves,” pointing to Somalia as one example.
When asked if there is a list of countries whose nationals would face asylum restrictions in the United States, Trump referred to the 19 nations labeled by his administration as “countries of identified concern.”
“I don’t think they are all third world, but in many cases they are third world. They are not good countries. They are very crime-ridden countries,” he added. “And we frankly, don’t need their people coming into our country telling us what to do.”
This story is developing and will be updated with additional details.