Donald Trump has said that he will stop all immigration from what he calls “Third World Countries” for good. This is after an Afghan national shot and killed a National Guard officer in Washington, DC.
The declaration, which was announced on social media on Thursday, is a big step forward in the US President’s anti-migration policies, which have been a big part of his second term.
Sarah Beckstrom, 20, a specialist in the West Virginia National Guard, was sent to Washington as part of the President’s fight against crime. She died from her injuries in the attack on Wednesday. Andrew Wolfe, a 24-year-old soldier, is still in critical condition.
Details about the Terror Probe and Suspect
Officials have called the incident an “ambush-style” attack, and the FBI is looking into it as an act of international terrorism.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, is the suspect in the shooting. He was brought to the US as part of a programme to get Afghans who had collaborated with US agencies out of the country. Several US news outlets say that he worked with a CIA unit in Afghanistan that fights terrorists.
The incident has sparked a heated political debate over immigration, the use of the military at home, and what the US’s withdrawal from Afghanistan means for the future.
Backlash Against Policy
“I will permanently stop migration from all Third World Countries so that the U.S. system can fully recover,” President Trump posted on social media. He also said he would take back “millions” of admissions that Joe Biden had given and “remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States.”
Mr Trump called the shooting a “terrorist attack” during a Thanksgiving video chat with US troops and told the processing of immigration applications from Afghanistan to stop right away.
Joseph Edlow, the head of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), told his staff to do a “full-scale, rigorous reexamination of every green card for every alien from every country of concern.” This is a reference to a prior list of 19 countries, such as Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, and Myanmar.
Concentrate on Asylum Vetting
US attorney Jeanine Pirro says that the guy who is thought to have shot the gun, Mr Lakanwal, had been living in Washington state and drove across the country to attack near the White House with a .357 Smith & Wesson handgun. He is facing three counts of assault with the intent to murder.
John Ratcliffe, the head of the CIA, said that the suspect had been a member of a “partner force” in Afghanistan that was supported by the CIA. Some of Trump’s top officials have said that the suspect was able to get into the US without being checked because of loose asylum rules after the chaotic pullout in 2021 under Mr Biden.
AfghanEvac, a service that helps people move to new homes, says that the migrants go through “some of the most extensive security vetting”. The group said that Mr Lakanwal was given refuge in April 2025, when Trump was in charge.
Pete Hegseth, the head of the Pentagon, said that 500 more troops would be sent to Washington. This would increase the total number of troops in the capital to 2,500.
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