Trump Announces Permanent Halt on Migration from “Third-World” Countries Following DC National Guard Shooting

According to Rokna, citing The Guardian, Donald Trump has declared that he intends to “permanently pause migration from all third-world countries,” issuing the statement one day after two national guard members were shot in Washington DC in an incident that has rapidly become a political flashpoint in his administration’s intensifying immigration crackdown.

In a late-night message posted on Thanksgiving, shortly after 11 p.m., the U.S. president said his administration would “terminate all federal benefits and subsidies for noncitizens” and expel “anyone who is not a net asset to the United States.” It remains unclear how such a sweeping halt to migration would be put into practice. Previous travel or entry bans by his administration have encountered legal challenges both in Congress and in the courts.

Earlier Thursday evening, Trump announced the death of Sarah Beckstrom, one of the two national guard members shot near the White House on Wednesday. Authorities believe the attack was carried out by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who arrived in the U.S. in September 2021 through a Biden-era evacuation program that resettled tens of thousands following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Reuters reported that he was granted asylum in April of this year, during Trump’s second term, and the CIA confirmed Thursday that he had worked with agency-backed military units during the Afghanistan war. Lakanwal was wounded during the attack and remains in custody. The second guard member, Andrew Wolfe, 24, is still in critical condition, according to Trump.

The president’s late-night remarks appeared to signal an escalation of his administration’s already severe anti-immigration stance, which has focused heavily on large-scale deportations. The lengthy post on Truth Social did not name specific countries that would be subject to the proposed migration “pause,” nor did it define what he meant by “third-world.” Instead, he employed fiery anti-immigrant rhetoric, attributing issues such as violent crime and the rising national deficit to the presence of migrants and refugees—claims made without evidence.

In his message, Trump again criticized Somali communities in Minnesota, days after promising to rescind temporary protected status for Somali nationals living in the state.

Earlier Thursday, Trump said that the shooting “reminds us that we have no greater national security priority than ensuring full control over who enters and remains in our country.”

Within 24 hours of the attack, the administration began announcing major immigration policy shifts. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said it was halting the processing of immigration cases related to Afghan nationals pending further review. Later, the Department of Homeland Security stated that the administration was broadening the inquiry to include all asylum decisions approved under the Biden administration. It did not clarify whether the review covers only Afghan asylum cases or extends to other nationalities as well.

USCIS director Joseph Edlow also announced a “comprehensive re-evaluation of every green card issued to aliens from every country of concern,” following Trump’s directive. He did not specify which nations fall under that classification. USCIS referred to a travel ban Trump imposed in June on citizens of 19 countries, including Afghanistan, Burundi, Laos, Togo, Venezuela, Sierra Leone, and Turkmenistan.

A similar travel ban imposed during Trump’s first term in 2017 faced widespread criticism and numerous legal challenges before being revised. Joe Biden rescinded the policy in 2021.

National guard forces have been stationed across Washington DC since August, when the Trump administration declared a “crime emergency” and deployed them to support local and federal law enforcement. Following Wednesday’s shooting, Trump said he would send an additional 500 guard members to the capital. A federal judge last week ordered the deployment to end but stayed her order for 21 days to allow the administration time to withdraw the troops or file an appeal.