On December 5th, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), also known as the Immigration Bureau, announced the establishment of a new review center to enhance the U.S. immigration system’s ability to identify potential terrorists, criminals, and foreign individuals who may pose a threat to U.S. public security.
The USCIS announced that the new “USCIS Vetting Center” will be located in Atlanta, Georgia. Once operational, it will focus on implementing rigorous and enhanced review procedures to enable USCIS to respond more quickly to evolving threat scenarios.
According to USCIS Director Joseph B. Edlow, the role of USCIS in the national immigration system has never been more critical. Especially in light of recent violent incidents, including a foreign national attacking National Guard members on U.S. soil, establishing this review center will significantly enhance the agency’s ability to safeguard national and public security.
Prior to this, Edlow mentioned that the Biden administration had requested USCIS to expedite immigration and naturalization processes with little consideration for their impact on national security and community safety. However, the current government has taken a thorough approach since day one to change this practice. Measures are being put in place to ensure that fraud, deception, and threats cannot undermine the immigration system.
The reference to the “foreign national attacking National Guard members on U.S. soil” pertains to Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan immigrant who opened fire near a metro station in Washington, D.C. on November 26, resulting in one death and another individual currently in critical condition. Lakanwal had previously worked for the U.S. military in Afghanistan and entered the U.S. in 2021 through the Biden administration’s “Welcome Allies” humanitarian parole program after assisting the U.S. forces in Afghanistan. His asylum request was approved by USCIS in April this year.
The USCIS stated that once the new review center is fully operational, it will integrate all classified and unclassified review resources to conduct more thorough supplemental reviews of immigration applications and petitions, utilizing cutting-edge technologies including artificial intelligence.
Furthermore, the center will combine review resources from the Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement and intelligence agencies to handle both pending and approved cases for comprehensive re-evaluation.
According to USCIS, the review will give priority to immigration applications from “high-risk countries.” President Trump issued a proclamation in June of this year restricting entry of citizens from 19 countries, including Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sudan, Laos, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Cuba, and Venezuela, with considerations like the absence of government-issued identity documents and the inability to conduct criminal background checks.
Following the Washington D.C. shooting on November 26th, the Department of Homeland Security, in a memo issued on December 3rd, declared a temporary suspension in processing immigration applications from these countries.
The establishment of the immigration review center and the recently announced series of measures and policies aim to enforce President Trump’s executive orders concerning national security. This includes the executive order issued on January 20th to protect the U.S. from foreign terrorists and other public safety threats.
The executive order not only targets potential “terrorists” to ensure national security but also addresses foreign individuals and organizations with hostile attitudes towards U.S. citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles to safeguard American culture and ideology.
The core objective of the executive order is to ensure that through stringent review and screening mechanisms, no foreign individual entering the U.S., receiving immigration benefits, or naturalizing as a U.S. citizen poses a threat to national security, public safety, American citizens, culture, or founding principles.