Fact Check: US government memo does not mark all recent migrants for removal, contrary to rumors.

An authentic memo from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), dated December 2, 2025, has circulated online, accompanied by claims that it orders the deportation of all migrants who arrived in the United States from 2021 onward and revokes citizenship where applicable. These claims are misleading.

What the Memo Actually Says

The December 2 memo indeed exists, but it does not mandate deportation of all recent migrants nor revoke citizenship for U.S. citizens who immigrated after 2021. Instead, it instructs USCIS staff to:

• Place a hold on all pending asylum applications (Form I-589), regardless of nationality, pending a full review.
• Pause pending immigration benefits for nationals from 19 countries identified in Presidential Proclamation 10949, regardless of their entry date, for a comprehensive review.
• Reassess approved immigration benefits for migrants from these 19 countries who entered the U.S. on or after January 20, 2021.

The memo emphasizes that these measures apply only to migrants from the countries listed in the travel restriction proclamation, not to all recent arrivals. USCIS may extend the review process to other individuals if deemed necessary.

Countries Affected

Presidential Proclamation 10949, issued in June 2025, fully restricted entry from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Partial restrictions were applied to Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. Only migrants from these 19 nations are impacted by the memos directives.

Context and Clarifications

The memo also temporarily halted processing of immigration applications for these countries and confirmed a prior announcement to pause all pending asylum applications. The directive was part of a broader review of high-risk applications, triggered in part by a recent violent incident involving National Guard members in Washington, D.C., connected to an Afghan national.

Claims circulating on social media that the memo targets all migrants who arrived since 2021 or revokes citizenship are therefore false. The memos scope is limited and does not indicate automatic deportation or citizenship revocation.

Summary

The December 2 USCIS memo is real but misrepresented online. Its focus is a detailed review of immigration benefits for migrants from certain countries, not a blanket deportation or citizenship revocation order. As such, the claim is a mixture of true and false information.

Author: Grace Ellison