DHS Ends Asylum Freeze, Resumes Processing for Most Applicants

The Department of Homeland Security lifted its blanket freeze on asylum processing Monday, resuming review of applications halted since November 2025 — though a processing ban remains in place for applicants from 36 countries designated as high-risk under existing U.S. travel restrictions.

The DHS pause suspended review of roughly 4 million pending asylum applications with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It was ordered after an alleged shooting by an Afghan national wounded two National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C. The freeze was among the most sweeping immigration restrictions imposed by the Trump administration since January 2025.

For the Treasure Coast — home to substantial Haitian, Guatemalan, and Caribbean immigrant communities in St. Lucie and Martin counties — the partial resumption offers uncertain relief. Immigration attorneys serving the region have reported that hundreds of local clients held applications in the suspended queue. Whether those cases fall under the remaining 36-country hold depends on applicants' countries of origin, leaving many families in continued legal limbo.

Separately, the partial DHS government shutdown that began in February showed signs of easing Monday after Transportation Security Administration officers received their first paychecks in more than 40 days. Most screeners received payment covering two missed pay periods, officials said, though a portion of a third missed paycheck remains outstanding. Congress did not appropriate the funds, a gap that Trump administration critics said raises legal questions about the White House's authority to release the payments.

More than 500 TSA officers resigned during the shutdown, according to DHS — a attrition figure that officials and union representatives warned could affect security staffing at airports including Palm Beach International, the primary hub for Treasure Coast travelers, for months.

On the international front, officials confirmed that more than a dozen U.S. service members were injured and two E-3 Sentry aircraft were damaged in an Iranian strike on a Saudi Arabian air base Friday. Iran continued to block most oil and gas tankers from transiting the Strait of Hormuz, though officials said some commercial shipping was permitted passage. Pakistan said it was prepared to host U.S.-Iran negotiations, but no such talks had been confirmed as of Monday.

What This Means for the Treasure Coast

The DHS asylum resumption directly affects pending applications filed by Treasure Coast residents processed through the USCIS Miami Field Office, which serves Martin, St. Lucie, and Indian River counties. Applicants from Haiti — one of the 36 countries subject to the continuing processing hold — remain frozen out. TSA staffing reductions stemming from the shutdown could affect security wait times at Palm Beach International Airport, the region's closest major hub, in coming weeks. Congress is not scheduled to take up a formal DHS appropriations measure until April, leaving both the TSA back-pay question and the legal authority for the payments unresolved.

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