U.S. President Donald Trump announced that his administration will “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries” after an attack near the White House on Thursday.
He did not name any specific countries or clarify what counts as a Third World country. He also did not explain how long the migration freeze would last. He added the plan would also apply to cases approved under the previous administration.
“I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden’s autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
He further pledged to end all federal benefits and subsidies for “non-citizens,” to “denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility,” and to deport any foreign national deemed a public charge, security risk, or “non-compatible with Western civilization.”
His announcement came after a member of the National Guard died following a shooting near the White House, which investigators attribute to an Afghan migrant.
Earlier in the week, officials from the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Trump ordered a broad review of asylum cases approved under the Biden administration, including Green Cards issued to citizens of 19 countries.
According to documents seen by a media outlet, the alleged shooter, identified as 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the U.S. in 2021 under a resettlement program initiated after the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Other officials have suspended processing immigration requests for Afghan nationals indefinitely.
Trump defended his immigration crackdown, asserting that hundreds of thousands arrived in the U.S. under what he called an “unvetted and unchecked” airlift from Afghanistan.
“These goals will be pursued with the aim of achieving a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations,” he said. He added, “Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation.”
Supporters of Trump argue that the recent shooting justifies tougher migration rules.
Critics warn that freezing migration from entire regions and stripping legal status from migrants, even those admitted under previous administrations, risks violating human rights and undermines established immigration law.