The Trump administration has temporarily suspended all immigration applications from 19 countries outside Europe, citing national security and public safety concerns.

The decision applies to citizens of 19 countries that were already subject to a partial travel ban, adding even stricter restrictions on immigration — a key promise of President Donald Trump's political platform.

The list also includes countries like Afghanistan and Somalia.

An Afghan national has been arrested in connection with an attack on US National Guard members in Washington last week, which left one guard member dead and another seriously injured, an official memo explaining the new policy said.

Trump has also recently stepped up his rhetoric against Somalis, calling them "trash" and saying "we don't want them in our country."

Since returning to office for a second term in January, Trump has taken an aggressive stance on immigration enforcement. He has sent federal agents to major US cities and has turned back asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border. While his administration has focused on deporting illegal immigrants, it is now looking to change the legal immigration system as well.

The Trump administration is pushing to limit legal immigration under the pretext of national security, and former President Joe Biden's policies are being blamed for this.

The 19 countries targeted in the memo, released Wednesday, include Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen—all of which were subject to the strictest restrictions, even a near-total entry ban, in June.

The remaining countries include Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela—all of which were subject to partial travel bans in June.

The new policy suspends all applications from citizens of these countries and mandates that each applicant undergo a full review. Interviews or re-interviews may be conducted as necessary to assess national security and public safety risks.

The memorandum also said that recent incidents of crimes committed by immigrants also played a role in this decision.