US President Donald Trump on Thursday said his administration will “permanently pause” migration from all “Third World Countries” after an attack near the White House that he attributed to immigration vetting failures under former President Joe Biden.
Trump did not list any specific countries or clarify what he meant by Third World Countries or “permanently pause”. He added that the suspension would also affect cases approved during the Biden administration.
“I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the US 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,” he said on his social media platform, Truth Social.
He also said he would end all federal benefits and subsidies for “non citizens”, adding that 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”.
The White House and US Citizenship and Immigration Services did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump’s remarks followed the death of a National Guard member who was shot near the White House in what investigators say was an ambush carried out by an Afghan national.
Earlier on Thursday, Department of Homeland Security officials said Trump had ordered a broad review of asylum cases approved under Biden and Green Cards issued to citizens of nineteen countries.
A US government file seen by reporters indicates that the alleged gunman was granted asylum this year under Trump. The Afghan immigrant, identified as twenty nine year old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the United States in 2021 through a resettlement programme.
That programme was created by Biden after the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, which resulted in the rapid collapse of the Afghan government and the takeover by the Taliban.
In a separate post before his announcement, Trump claimed that hundreds of thousands of people entered the United States totally “unvetted and unchecked” during what he called the “horrendous” airlift from Afghanistan.
On Wednesday, US Citizenship and Immigration Services halted the processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals indefinitely.
“These goals will be pursued with the aim of achieving a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations,” Trump said.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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