President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will move to halt immigration from what he called “all Third World Countries,” a sweeping response to the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., earlier this week. In a detailed post on Truth Social, the president said the United States must stop migration long enough for the country’s strained system to “fully recover.”
“I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover,” Trump wrote, making clear he intends to take broad action following the attack.
The statement came hours after the administration said it would reassess green cards tied to 19 countries. A White House memo from June identified those nations as Afghanistan, Burma, Burundi, Chad, Cuba, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and Yemen. These countries already faced entry restrictions under existing security reviews, and the administration signaled it would be taking an even closer look in light of this week’s events.
The policy shift follows the arrest of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the Afghan national accused of targeting two National Guard members at a Metro station near the White House. Lakanwal entered the United States in 2021 under a resettlement program designed for Afghans who assisted American forces during the 20-year war. That program was created during the withdrawal from Afghanistan, a period critics have long said lacked proper vetting and oversight.
The administration separately announced Thursday an indefinite pause on migration from Afghanistan. Trump did not specify which other countries would be subject to the broader pause, noting only that the suspension would apply to “Third World Countries.” The United Nations lists 44 nations under its “least developed” designation, but the White House has not clarified whether this classification is what the administration intends to use. The Hill has reached out to the administration seeking additional information.
The gravity of the situation intensified Thursday when one of the two shooting victims, 20-year-old U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, died from her injuries. The other Guardsman, 24-year-old U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, remains hospitalized in critical condition. Both were ambushed while on duty, fueling renewed calls for stricter vetting and stronger policies to prevent dangerous individuals from entering the country.
The tragic attack and the suspect’s immigration background have revived concerns that national security risks remain embedded in U.S. immigration programs created during the Afghanistan withdrawal. Trump’s decision to halt migration from certain countries reflects the administration’s stance that the only responsible path forward is to pause entries until the system can verify that those arriving do not pose a threat.
As lawmakers and the public await clarification on which countries will be included, the administration is preparing for a major recalibration of U.S. immigration policy—one driven by an incident that struck at the heart of the nation’s capital and claimed the life of a young American soldier.
[READ MORE: Trump Orders Review of All Afghan Entrants Admitted Under Biden After National Guard Shooting ]
