Donald Trump has said he will 'permanently pause migration from all third world countries,' a day after two national guard members were shot in Washington DC in an attack that has become a political flashpoint in the president’s ongoing crackdown on immigration.
In a social media post beginning with “a very happy Thanksgiving,” sent after 11pm on Thursday, the US president said his administration would “end all federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens” and remove “anyone who is not a net asset to the United States”.
As The Guardian comments, it was not clear how the president would enact such a 'pause' in migration. Previous bans issued by his administration have faced challenges in the courts and in Congress.
Earlier in the night, Trump announced the death of Sarah Beckstrom, one of the two guard members shot in the attack.
Authorities suspect the shooting was carried out by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who entered the US in September 2021 under a Biden-era programme that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands from Afghanistan after the chaotic US withdrawal from the country.
He was granted asylum in April this year, under the Trump administration, Reuters reported, and on Thursday the CIA confirmed 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 national guard member, Andrew Wolfe, 24, is still fighting for his life, according to the president.
Trump's late-night post appeared to mark an escalation in the anti-migrant policies of his second term, which has been dominated by a campaign of mass deportations.
He did not immediately identify the countries he intended to target or explain what he meant by “third-world”, but instead used blistering anti-immigrant rhetoric to blame issues like high crime and America’s rising deficit on the presence of migrants and refugees, without evidence.
In his post, the president singled out Somali communities in Minnesota, after last week promising to end temporary protected status for people from Somalia in the state.
Earlier in the day, Trump claimed the shooting in Washington DC “reminds us that we have no greater national security priority than ensuring that we have full control over the people that enter and remain in our country.”
In the 24 hours after the shooting, the president and members of his administration have announced sweeping immigration reforms.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced processing of immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals was indefinitely suspended pending further review.
Source: The Guardian, by Jonathan Yerusalmy