US President Donald Trump has declared that his administration intends to stop migration from what he described as “third-world countries”, arguing that the measure is needed to stabilise the country’s immigration system. His comments appeared on Truth Social, where he claimed the current system has weakened living standards for many Americans. He did not specify which nations fall under this new proposal.
Trump’s remarks followed the arrest of an Afghan national accused of shooting two members of the National Guard in Washington, DC. One of the service members later died. The president linked the incident to what he sees as a broader national security threat tied to the US immigration system.
The administration has escalated its actions in the days after the shooting. The US suspended all immigration processing for Afghan nationals, saying a review of vetting and security procedures was underway. Soon after, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it would reassess green cards already issued to individuals from 19 countries. While the agency did not connect the decision directly to the shooting, it referred reporters to a June White House proclamation listing Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Somalia and Venezuela among the affected states. Details of how the review will be conducted have not been provided.
Trump also indicated plans to cut off federal benefits and subsidies to all non-citizens. In the same announcement, he attributed various social and economic problems in the US to refugee communities and insisted that only migrants he considers a net gain to the country should remain. His online message, styled as a Thanksgiving greeting, included criticisms of refugee populations in Minnesota and the Democratic officials representing the state.
Neither the White House nor USCIS has offered further clarification about how the wider migration freeze will be implemented or how it relates to earlier restrictions. The administration has already enacted a travel ban affecting Afghanistan and 11 additional countries — mostly in Africa and Asia — as well as a separate ban on several majority-Muslim nations during Trump’s first term.
Some immigration experts argue that the president is using the DC attack to cast blame on migrants despite the absence of a confirmed motive. Jeremy McKinney, who heads the American Immigration Lawyers Association, noted that acts of violence can be carried out by individuals from any background and cautioned against linking such incidents to nationality or skin colour.
