US President Donald Trump announced sweeping immigration restrictions, declaring he will “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries” and terminate federal benefits for noncitizens, following the fatal shooting of a National Guard member near the White House.
In posts on his Truth Social platform, Trump outlined an expansive immigration crackdown that includes ending what he claimed were “millions of Biden illegal admissions,” removing individuals “not a net asset to the United States,” and deporting any foreign national he described as a “public charge, security risk, or incompatible with Western Civilisation.”
The announcement came one day after two National Guard members were shot in Washington, DC. Sarah Beckstrom died Thursday from her injuries, while the second soldier remained in critical condition. Authorities identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who came to the US in 2021 after working with American forces, including the CIA.
Immediate Actions Underway
At Trump’s direction, US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Thursday it would reexamine all green cards issued to people from 19 “countries of concern,” including Afghanistan, Somalia, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Venezuela, and others listed in a June presidential proclamation.
“At the direction of @POTUS, I have directed a full-scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern,” USCIS Director Joe Edlow wrote on X.
The Department of Homeland Security also announced an immediate and indefinite halt to processing immigration requests from Afghan nationals and said it would review all asylum cases approved under the Biden administration.
Controversial Rhetoric
Trump’s Truth Social posts included inflammatory language about immigration and specific attacks on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Representative Ilhan Omar. The president claimed that “Somalian gangs are roving the streets looking for ‘prey'” in Minnesota and made unsubstantiated assertions about the foreign-born population and welfare benefits.
Trump stated the “official United States Foreign population stands at 53 million people,” though he did not cite sources for this figure. He claimed migrants earning $30,000 annually receive $50,000 in yearly benefits, characterising immigration as “the leading cause of social dysfunction in America.”
The posts also contained personal attacks on elected officials and broad characterisations of immigrants from certain countries.
Policy Specifics Unclear
Trump did not define what constitutes a “Third World Country” in his announcement, though the term has historically referred to developing nations with higher poverty rates and economic instability. It remains unclear how the administration would implement such a sweeping pause or which countries would be affected beyond the 19 already listed.
The president said his goals include achieving “a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations” and that “only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation.”
Afghan Community Response
The Alliance of Afghan Communities in the United States condemned the shooting while expressing concern about the collective punishment of Afghan immigrants.
“A single individual’s crime must not jeopardise or obstruct the legal cases of thousands of deserving Afghans who meet all U.S. legal requirements,” the organisation said in a statement.
More than 190,000 Afghans have been resettled in the United States since the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, according to the State Department.
Lakanwal, the shooting suspect, came to the US through Operation Allies Welcome after assisting American forces. He applied for asylum in 2024, which the Trump administration granted in April 2025.
Escalating Immigration Crackdown
The announcements represent the latest escalation in Trump’s immigration agenda. In a video address from Mar-a-Lago Wednesday night, Trump blamed the Biden administration for the shooting and called it “the single greatest national security threat facing our nation.”
“We must now reexamine every single alien who’s entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden, and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country,” Trump said.
The administration has not provided timelines for implementing these policies or details on how they would be carried out legally and logistically.
