Trump moves to suspend migration from ‘third world countries’ after fatal shooting of national guard soldier
United States President Donald Trump has announced plans to suspend migration from what he described as “third world countries” following the killing of a National Guard soldier allegedly shot by a 29-year-old Afghan national in Washington, D.C.
Trump made the remarks in a series of posts on Thursday, one day after the ambush-style attack that left 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, a West Virginia National Guard member deployed to the capital, dead. The FBI has since launched an international terrorism investigation into the incident.
The president said the move would also include reversing “millions” of admissions approved under former President Joe Biden, while vowing to “remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States.” He linked the shooting directly to his broader domestic security campaign, which has seen hundreds of National Guard troops deployed to Washington as part of a crackdown on crime.
In a Thanksgiving video call with U.S. troops, Trump described the killing as a “terrorist attack” and expressed national grief, saying: “I want to express the anguish and the horror of our entire nation.”
Officials revealed that the alleged gunman had previously worked alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan before migrating to the United States. The incident has inflamed debate around immigration policy, the use of military personnel for domestic policing, and the long-term consequences of America’s two-decade war in Afghanistan.
Trump’s immigration chief, Joseph Edlow, said he had ordered a “full-scale, rigorous reexamination” of every Green Card issued to immigrants from “countries of concern.” USCIS later pointed to an existing list of 19 countries, including Afghanistan, Cuba, Iran, Haiti and Myanmar, facing travel restrictions under a June executive order.
The administration had earlier halted the processing of immigration applications from Afghanistan, citing national security concerns.
