United States President Donald Trump on Thursday announced plans to suspend immigration from what he described as “all Third World countries,” a day after an Afghan national was identified as the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, DC.
Trump’s latest declaration adds to a growing list of immigration restrictions under his administration. Earlier, he ordered a full review of all green card applications from 19 “countries of concern” following the Washington, DC, shooting.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump 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.”
He did not clarify what he meant by “Third World,” a term commonly used for developing nations in the Global South.
Trump also said he intends to “remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country,” adding that federal benefits and subsidies for “noncitizens” would end.
He further pledged to “denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquillity, and deport any foreign national who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western civilization.”
Earlier on Thursday, US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow said he had ordered “a full-scale, rigorous re-examination of every green card for every alien from every country of concern” at the direction of the president.
“The protection of this country and of the American people remains paramount, and the American people will not bear the cost of the prior administration’s reckless resettlement policies,” Edlow said.
The list of 19 countries referenced in an earlier presidential proclamation includes Afghanistan, Haiti, Iran, Myanmar, Venezuela and Yemen.
Immigration officials also said Afghan immigration requests had been indefinitely suspended pending a review of security and vetting procedures.
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The restrictions follow the identification of 29-year-old Rahmanaullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national, as the suspect in the shooting of the National Guard members. According to US attorney Jeanine Pirro, Lakanwal entered the US under “Operation Allies Welcome” after the 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan. She said federal agencies, including the FBI, would review his immigration history and vetting process.
These new measures are part of an ongoing tightening of US immigration policy. In October, the administration announced it would accept only 7,500 refugees in 2026, the lowest since 1980. A new government memo, obtained by the Associated Press, also orders a review of approximately 200,000 refugees admitted under President Joe Biden and suspends green card applications for that group.