Shooting Fallout: President Trump Announces Plan to Halt Migration from ‘Third World’ Nations

New Delhi — Days after an Afghan national allegedly opened fire on two National Guard members near the White House, US President Donald Trump has announced a sweeping new immigration plan, declaring that he intends to “permanently pause migration from all Third World countries.”

If implemented, the move could dramatically affect millions of people seeking to enter the US for education, employment, safety, or asylum, potentially reshaping global migration flows.

In a strongly worded statement posted on Truth Social on Thursday, President Trump argued that although the US has made technological progress, decades of immigration policies have weakened the country and affected living standards.

He wrote:
“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… remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States… end all federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens, denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any foreign national who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.”

Trump claimed that the aim of his proposed measures is to dramatically reduce what he described as “illegal and destabilizing populations,” adding that the only long-term solution is what he terms “reverse migration.”

He ended his message with: “Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation. Other than that, HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL, except those that hate, steal, murder, and destroy everything that America stands for — You won’t be here for long.”

Earlier, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow said he had ordered a “full-scale, rigorous re-examination of every Green Card” belonging to nationals from countries on the administration’s list of concern.

India is not on that list, nor most South Asian nations—except Afghanistan.

The new measures follow Wednesday’s shooting near the White House by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national. One National Guard member, Sarah Beckstrom, died of her injuries on Thursday, while the second remains in critical condition. Lakanwal, who was wounded before being captured, is also hospitalised.

Following the incident, Trump had said: “We must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan.”

The broadened scrutiny will affect several hundred thousand Green Card holders from 19 countries that were placed under a watch list in June, when Trump also restricted visa issuance citing vetting concerns.

These countries include Burma, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

Lakanwal had previously worked with the CIA in Afghanistan and entered the US under programmes designed to protect Afghans who assisted American forces after the Taliban takeover.

--With inputs from IANS