Trump says US will ‘permanently pause’ migration from ‘third world countries’

Donald Trump has said he will “permanently pause migration” to the US from all “third world countries”.

The US president wrote in a Truth Social post that the decision would “allow the US system to fully recover” from immigration policies that had eroded the “gains and living conditions” of many Americans. He did not provide details of his plan or name which countries might be affected.

Trump’s comments come a day after an Afghan national was accused of shooting two members of the National Guard in Washington DC, one of whom has died.

This and other announcements after the attack represent a further toughening of Trump’s stance towards immigration, which has long been one of his key issues.

Trump previously said Wednesday’s shooting in Washington DC underlined a major national security threat and promised to take steps to remove any foreigner “from any country who does not belong here”.

The same day, the US suspended processing all immigration requests from Afghans, saying the decision was made pending a review of “security and vetting protocols”.

Then on Thursday, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said it would re-examine green cards issued to individuals who immigrated to the US from 19 countries.

When asked by the BBC which countries were on the list, the agency pointed to a June proclamation by the White House that included Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Somalia and Venezuela.

0:30Watch: Trump announces death of National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom

‘Third-world countries’

Trump’s strongly worded two-part post on Thursday night went further, pledging to “end all federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens”.

The president also blamed refugees for causing the “social dysfunction in America” and vowed to remove “anyone who is not a net asset” to the US.

The post, which Trump introduced as a “Happy Thanksgiving salutation” was filled with anti-immigrant language.

He said that “hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia were completely taking over the once great State of Minnesota” and took particular aim at the state’s Democratic lawmakers.

“I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover,” the president wrote.

The phrase “third world” is a term that was used in the past to describe poorer, developing nations.

The White House and USCIS have not yet given further details of Trump’s plan.

The president had already imposed a travel ban on nationals of Afghanistan – and 11 other countries, primarily in Africa and Asia – earlier this year. Another travel ban targeting a number of majority-Muslim countries was enacted during his first term.

Suspect in DC shooting is Afghan

The flurry of announcements come after officials said that the suspect in Washington DC shooting, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, came to the US in 2021.

Mr Lakanwal travelled under a programme that offered special immigration protections to Afghans who had worked with US forces in the wake of the American withdrawal from Afghanistan.

At the time, the Taliban had taken back control of Afghanistan, raising fears of retribution against those who had co-operated with the US. Mr Lakanwal once worked alongside the CIA, the agency’s current director has said.

Mr Lakanwal applied for asylum in 2024 and his application was granted earlier this year, an official told the BBC’s US partner CBS News.

He was arrested after the attack and was said to be not co-operating with authorities.

Trump styled the attack as an “act of terror”.

He said the following day that one of the two members of the National Guard who were allegedly shot had died.

Sarah Beckstrom succumbed to her injuries, he said. The 20-year-old from West Virginia was working in the city as part of Trump’s deployment of National Guard members to crack down on crime.

She had volunteered to work in DC over the US holiday Thanksgiving, Attorney General Pam Bondi said.

The second National Guard member, 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, was said by Trump to be “fighting for his life”.