WASHINGTON: The US government has halted immigration applications for citizens from 19 nations including Afghanistan, Yemen and Haiti, an official memorandum said Tuesday, deepening the nation’s sweeping crackdown on migration. Authorities paused green card and citizenship processing, according to the memo, for people from countries already subject to travel restrictions announced in June by President Donald Trump. Those 19 nations also include Venezuela, Sudan and Somalia.

Pause, including Afghanistan and Somalia, indicates plan to tie US security to increased focus on legal immigration

It is the latest part of the Trump administration's renewed immigration crackdown in the wake of a deadly DC shooting.