Trump invokes 212(f) to defend ‘permanent pause’ on Third World migration as US freezes asylum, Afghan visas

The White House has argued that heightened vetting is essential until officials can “ensure that every alien is properly vetted”.

President Donald Trump on Saturday defended his decision to 'permanently pause migration from all Third World countries', insisting he is acting within his powers under Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act even as multiple UN agencies urged the US to keep its asylum system open.

Trump cited 212(f) to justify a sweeping halt on asylum decisions and a State Department freeze on visas for all Afghan passport-holders, saying the moves are necessary to protect national security. The White House amplified the same legal provision on X, underscoring that the president can suspend the entry of 'any class of aliens' deemed detrimental to US interests.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow confirmed that asylum officers have been instructed to stop issuing decisions until new 'enhanced vetting' is in place. Secretary of State Marco Rubio separately announced the pause on Afghan visas.

How Trump framed his authority

Posting on Truth Social, Trump quoted the full operative clause of 212(f), emphasising that a president may suspend the entry of “all aliens or any class of aliens” whenever their presence is deemed harmful to the United States. The administration has invoked this language to defend the asylum freeze and the Afghan-visa halt as lawful and temporary security measures.

The White House has argued that heightened vetting is essential until officials can 'ensure that every alien is properly vetted.'

Context: A travel-ban style authority but on a far bigger scale

Trump’s new proclamation echoes the legal foundation of the 2017–18 travel bans, which the Supreme Court upheld in Trump v. Hawaii. But this time, the language is broader, 'all Third World countries', a category with no defined legal boundary and one that could cover much of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Immigration experts say the administration is testing how far 212(f) can stretch before courts intervene.

Wider implications

For Afghans:

The visa pause immediately affects applicants under the Special Immigrant Visa programme and refugee referrals, cohorts that already faced a massive processing backlog.

For asylum seekers:

More than a million asylum cases pending before USCIS and immigration courts now face an indefinite freeze on decisions, worsening delays in an already strained system.

For India and other 'Global South' countries:

The White House has not clarified whether India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, African nations or Latin American states would be named in any follow-up proclamation. That uncertainty has triggered concern among students, workers and employers with active US immigration plans.