President Donald Trump announced a significant escalation of his immigration crackdown late Thursday, pledging to “permanently pause migration” to the US from all “third-world countries.” The move follows a high-profile shooting in Washington D.C. where an Afghan national is accused of killing a National Guard member.
In a strongly worded two-part post on Truth Social, the US President asserted the mass suspension of migration would “allow the US system to fully recover” from policies he claimed had degraded the “gains and living conditions” of many Americans.
Escalating Immigration Stance
President Trump’s announcement is the most drastic in a series of toughened measures following Wednesday’s attack, in which an Afghan migrant allegedly shot two members of the National Guard, one of whom—Sarah Beckstrom, 20, of West Virginia—has since succumbed to her injuries. The second member, Andrew Wolfe, 24, is reportedly “fighting for his life.”
While Trump did not explicitly link his call for a permanent migration pause to the attack, he did suggest the incident highlighted a critical national security threat.
The President’s subsequent vows include:
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Mass Deportations: Promising to remove any foreigner “from any country who does not belong here.”
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Federal Benefit Cuts: Pledging to “end all federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens.”
The President also blamed refugees for “social dysfunction in America” and vowed to remove “anyone who is not a net asset” to the US. He singled out the state of Minnesota, claiming “hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia were completely taking over.”
Immediate Policy Shifts
Before the President’s post, federal agencies had already begun implementing new policies:
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Afghan Immigration Suspended: The US suspended the processing of all immigration requests from Afghan nationals, pending a review of “security and vetting protocols.”
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Green Card Re-examination: The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it would re-examine green cards issued to individuals who had migrated from 19 countries. While the agency did not name the countries, they pointed to a June White House proclamation that included nations such as Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Somalia, and Venezuela.
The White House and USCIS have not yet provided specific details on how the new “permanent pause” would be implemented or which countries would be classified as “third-world countries”—a phrase historically used to describe poorer, developing nations.
Suspect’s Background and Criticism
The suspect in the DC shooting, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, came to the US in 2021 under a special program for Afghans who had worked with US forces following the American withdrawal from the country. The CIA’s current director confirmed Mr. Lakanwal had once worked alongside the agency. He was granted asylum earlier this year after applying in 2024.
Critics have swiftly condemned the President’s response. Jeremy McKinney, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, called the administration’s actions a “scapegoating” of migrants. Speaking before Trump’s most recent comments, he stressed that the attacker’s motive remains unknown, arguing that “When a person becomes radicalised or is suffering some type of mental illness, that person can come from any background.”
The President, however, has characterized the attack on the National Guard as an “act of terror.”
