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U.S. President Donald Trump has escalated his administration's immigration stance, announcing plans to "permanently pause migration" from all "third world countries" after an Afghan national was accused of shooting two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., one of whom later died. The comments appeared in a series of posts on his Truth Social platform, where Trump argued the move would "allow the US system to fully recover" from immigration policies he said had eroded "the gains and living conditions" of Americans.
Trump blamed refugees for contributing to what he called "the social dysfunction in America" and vowed to remove "anyone who is not a net asset" to the country. His statement followed earlier remarks promising to expel any foreigner "from any country who does not belong here." He also pledged to "end all federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens," expanding on the broader immigration actions taken this week.
The incident at the center of these measures involved 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwa, identified as the suspect in the shooting. Officials said Lakanwa previously worked alongside U.S. forces in Afghanistan and entered the country in 2021 under a post-withdrawal resettlement program. Trump argued the case demonstrated failures in past "security and vetting protocols," claiming that hundreds of thousands entered the U.S. "unvetted and unchecked" during what he described as the "horrendous" airlift from Afghanistan.
In response, the U.S. suspended all immigration requests from Afghans "pending a review of security and vetting protocols," and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it would re-examine green cards issued to individuals from 19 countries. The agency pointed to a previous proclamation listing Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Somalia and Venezuela among the nations included. USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said he had ordered "a full-scale, rigorous re-examination of every green card for every alien from every country of concern," calling protection of the U.S. "paramount."
Trump's latest declaration went further than previous announcements. He said his plan would "terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden's autopen," and stated he would "denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility" and deport any foreign national considered a "public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western civilization."
He added that reducing what he called "illegal and disruptive populations" required broader action, writing, "Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation."
