Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that the administration won't restart asylum claims until every applicant is thoroughly vetted under the new standards established by President Donald Trump.
Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Noem said the administration has halted all such cases to prioritize national security and to clean up what she described as the "chaos" left behind by President Joe Biden.
The Trump administration on Friday confirmed it has paused all asylum rulings, one day after the president said he would suspend migration from "third world countries."
The administration's actions came following the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington on Wednesday, killing one, allegedly at the hands of an Afghan.
"The president is absolutely determined to stop all processes at this point in time from third world countries," Noem said. "We need a thorough opportunity to go through these individuals, know they are here for the right intentions, and should even be in our country to begin with."
Noem said the administration views the pause as essential to protect Americans, arguing that many of the nations that asylum seekers are coming from cannot provide reliable information about their citizens.
"These third world countries don't have stable governments," she said. "They can't tell us who these people are. That's really the consequence of what we are seeing unfold with the violence on our streets."
Noem blamed years of lax enforcement under the Biden administration for letting individuals enter the system without meaningful screening.
She said the lack of proper vetting — and the inability of foreign governments to provide necessary records — compromised national security and fueled abuse of the asylum program.
The restart, she said, won't happen until two major steps are complete.
"It will start when we know we have dealt with the backlog that we have," Noem said. "Joe Biden left us with a backlog of 1.5 million asylum cases."
She added that applicants with legitimate claims were often stuck waiting years because the previous administration "allowed so many people to abuse that program" without even processing paperwork.
"The individuals who are here in the program need to be vetted under our standards," Noem said.
She emphasized that President Trump's approach relies heavily on expanded checks, including deeper background reviews and tighter scrutiny of applicants' origins.
Noem said anyone who does not meet the new criteria "should be removed immediately," and only once the system is cleared and reinforced will asylum claims resume — "until we are sure that there will be someone who truly deserves the program."
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