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President Donald Trump said Thursday he will halt migration from “third-world countries,” one day after an Afghan national allegedly opened fire on two National Guard troops in Washington, killing one.
The announcement, made on Truth Social, escalated Trump’s second-term immigration stance, which has already featured mass deportation operations and tightened enforcement. The president also warned he would reverse “millions” of admissions he said were granted under former President Joe Biden.
President Trump confirmed earlier that 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, a West Virginia National Guard member deployed to Washington, had died from her injuries. The FBI has launched an international terrorism investigation into the shooting.
New details about the alleged gunman, identified as a 29-year-old Afghan national, show he previously served in a CIA-backed counterterrorism force, according to multiple media reports.
The attack, which authorities described as an “ambush-style” shooting near the White House, has intensified debate over immigration, military deployments in U.S. cities, and the fallout from the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden’s Autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country, end all Federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens of our Country, denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization,” President Trump wrote.
“These goals will be pursued with the aim of achieving a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations, including those admitted through an unauthorized and illegal Autopen approval process. Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation,” he added.
Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said Thursday he had ordered a “full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern.” The agency cited a list of 19 nations already subject to travel restrictions under a previous Trump directive, including Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran and Myanmar. The administration had already halted the processing of Afghan immigration applications.