Plans to denaturalise migrants; To end federal benefits for non-citizens; Calls for reducing illegal population
Combo of pictures shows National Guard members Staff Sgt Andrew Wolfe (L) and Specialist Sarah Beckstrom. Photo: AFP
WASHINGTON:
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday his administration will “permanently pause” migration from all “Third World Countries”, following the death of a National Guard member in an attack near the White House.
The comments mark a further escalation of migration measures Trump has ordered since the shooting on Wednesday that investigators say was carried out by an Afghan national who entered the US in 2021 under a resettlement program.
Trump did not identify any countries by name or explain what he meant by third-world countries or “permanently pause”. He said the plan would include cases approved under former President Joe Biden’s administration.
“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, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden’s autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States,” he said on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Trump said he would end all federal benefits and subsidies for “non-citizens”, adding he would “denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility” and deport any foreign national deemed a public charge, security risk, or “non-compatible with Western civilization”.
White House and US Citizenship and Immigration Services did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. UN agencies appealed to Washington to continue allowing asylum seekers access to the country and to be given due process.
“We expect all countries, including the United States, to honour their commitments under the 1953 Refugee Convention,” Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary general, told Reuters.
UN human rights office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence told a Geneva press briefing: “They are entitled to protection under international law, and that should be given due process.”
Trump’s remarks followed the death on Thursday of National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, 20, who was shot in the ambush. Fellow Guardsman Andrew Wolfe,24, was “fighting for his life”, Trump said.
Earlier, officials from the Department of Homeland Security said Trump had ordered a widespread review of asylum cases approved under Biden’s administration and Green Cards issued to citizens of 19 countries.
The alleged gunman, identified by officials as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was granted asylum this year under Trump, according to a US government file seen by Reuters. He entered the US in a resettlement program set up by Biden after the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 that led to the rapid collapse of the Afghan government and the country’s takeover by the Taliban.
In a separate post prior to his “permanently pause” announcement, Trump claimed that hundreds of thousands of people poured into the US totally “unvetted and unchecked” during what he described as the “horrendous” airlift from Afghanistan.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services on Wednesday stopped processing all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals indefinitely.
Trump indicated that his administration’s goals are aimed at significantly reducing “illegal and disruptive populations”, suggesting that measures would be taken to achieve this outcome.
“Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation.” Even though Lakanwal was in the country legally, the incident bolsters Trump’s immigration agenda.
Cracking down on both legal and illegal immigration has been a key focus of his presidency, and this case gave him an opportunity to broaden the debate beyond legality to include stricter vetting of immigrants.
Trump has already deployed additional immigration officers to major US cities to achieve record deportation levels, including many long-term residents and individuals with no criminal record.
Over two-thirds of the roughly 53,000 people arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and detained as of November 15 had no criminal convictions, according to ICE statistics.
