US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that his administration will “permanently pause” migration from what he described as “Third World Countries,” linking the move to an attack near the White House that killed a National Guard member. Trump attributed the incident to what he called immigration vetting failures under former President Joe Biden.
CM Maryam Nawaz Unveils Punjab’s Biggest Traffic Reforms in 60 Years
Trump did not specify which countries were included in the plan or define the term “Third World Countries.” He said the suspension would also apply to cases approved during Biden’s presidency.
In a statement on his social media platform, Trump said his administration would halt migration “to allow the US system to fully recover,” revoke what he termed “millions of Biden illegal admissions,” and remove individuals who are “not a net asset to the United States.” He also vowed to end all federal benefits for non-citizens, “denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquillity,” and deport any foreign national deemed a public charge, security risk, or “non-compatible with Western civilization.”
The White House and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump’s announcement came hours after officials confirmed that the man accused of fatally shooting a National Guard member in an ambush near the White House was an Afghan national. According to a government file seen by Reuters, the suspect, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, had been granted asylum earlier this year under Trump’s administration. He originally entered the United States in 2021 under a Biden-era resettlement program created after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Before unveiling the migration pause, Trump criticized the 2021 airlift from Afghanistan, claiming that “hundreds of thousands” of people entered the US “unvetted and unchecked.”
DHS officials said Trump has ordered a broad review of asylum approvals issued under Biden as well as green cards granted to citizens of 19 countries. Separately, USCIS halted the processing of all immigration requests from Afghan nationals on Wednesday.
Trump said the revised approach aims to substantially reduce “illegal and disruptive populations,” adding that “only reverse migration can fully cure this situation.”
The attack—despite the suspect being in the country legally—has intensified debate around immigration and is expected to carry significant political consequences, strengthening Trump’s longstanding push for much stricter immigration controls.
