The president of the United States, said this morning that he will “permanently pause migration from all Third World countries,” a day after two members of the national guard were shot in Washington DC (one of the uniformed ones), in an attack that has become a political flashpoint in the president’s current offensive against immigration.
In a social media post beginning “a very happy Thanksgiving,” sent after eleven p.m. Thursday (six hours longer in Madrid), the president said his Administration would “end all federal benefits and subsidies for noncitizens” and eliminate “anyone who is not a net asset to the United States.”
It was unclear how the president would implement such a “pause” on migration. Previous bans issued by his administration have faced challenges in the courts and in Congress.
Earlier that night, Trump announced the death of Sarah Beckstrom, one of two guards who were shot in the attack near the White House on Wednesday. Authorities suspect the shooting was the work of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who entered the United States in September 2021 under a program that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan following the chaotic American withdrawal from the country.
He was granted asylum in April of this year under the Trump administration, and on Thursday the CIA confirmed that he worked with military units backed by the agency during the US war in Afghanistan.
Lakanwal was injured in the attack and remains in custody. A second member of the national guard, Andrew Wolfe, 24, is still fighting for his life, according to the president.
Firm hand
The president’s late-night post appeared to mark an escalation in the anti-immigrant policies of his second term, which has been dominated by a campaign of mass deportations.
In his post, the president attacked immigrants living in the United States and singled out Somali communities in Minnesota, after promising last week to end temporary protected status for people from Somalia in the state.
Earlier in the day, Trump said the shooting in Washington, DC, “reminds us that we have no higher national security priority than ensuring that we have complete control over the people who enter and remain in our country.”
“We have no higher national security priority than ensuring that we have complete control over the people who enter and remain in our country”
In the 24 hours after the shooting, the president and members of his administration announced sweeping immigration reforms. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the indefinite suspension of processing immigration applications for Afghan citizens, pending a more thorough review.
The Department of Homeland Security later announced that the administration would expand this review to include all asylum cases approved during the Biden administration. The department did not clarify whether it is reviewing only asylum cases from Afghanistan or also those from other countries.
USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said in a statement that he was also leading “a rigorous, large-scale reevaluation of every green card for every alien from every country of concern,” at Trump’s request.
Edlow’s statement did not specify which countries were considered of concern. USCIS cited Trump’s June travel ban on citizens of 19 countries, including Afghanistan, Burundi, Laos, Togo, Venezuela, Sierra Leone and Turkmenistan.
A travel ban issued in 2017 during Trump’s first term was widely criticized and faced legal and popular resistance when Trump attempted to impose it immediately after taking office. The policy was restructured by the White House after prolonged court litigation, but was revoked by Joe Biden in 2021.
National Guard troops have been deployed in Washington, D.C., since August, when the Trump administration declared a “criminal emergency” and ordered their deployment to support federal and local law enforcement.
Shortly after Wednesday’s shooting, Trump said he would send 500 more National Guard troops to Washington, DC.
Last week, a federal judge ordered an end to the national guard deployment, but also suspended his order for 21 days to allow the Trump administration time to withdraw troops or appeal.
