United States President Donald Trump has announced plans to suspend immigration from what he described as “all Third World countries”, following the shooting of two members of the National Guard in Washington, DC.
In a message posted on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, Trump said:
“I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover.”
He added that the policy was intended to reverse what he called “millions of Biden illegal admissions” and to restore what he described as damaged living conditions for American citizens.
The president did not define which countries would be classified as “Third World”, nor did he publish an official list.
The announcement came one day after US authorities named an Afghan national, Rahmanaullah Lakanwal, 29, as the suspect in a shooting that wounded two members of the National Guard in Washington, DC. One of the guards, Sarah Beckstrom, 20, later died from her injuries.
Trump described the attack as an “act of terror” and said it showed what he called failures in the immigration system.
Lakanwal entered the United States in 2021 under a programme known as Operation Allies Welcome, which was established after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. The programme admitted Afghans who had worked alongside US forces.
According to US officials, Lakanwal applied for asylum in 2024 and was granted legal status earlier this year.
Authorities said that federal agencies, including the FBI, are reviewing how he was vetted before entering the country.
On Thursday, the director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Joseph Edlow, announced that the government would begin a review of green cards issued to applicants from what he called “countries of concern”.
In a statement, Edlow said:
“At the direction of the president, we have ordered a full-scale, rigorous re-examination of every green card for every alien from every country of concern.”
Although the full list of countries was not confirmed, the agency referred reporters to a presidential proclamation issued on June 4 which restricts entry from 19 countries. Some of those named in earlier announcements include:
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Afghanistan
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Haiti
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Iran
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Myanmar
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Venezuela
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Yemen
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Somalia
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Cuba
Nigeria was not mentioned in any of the published lists cited in the reports.
USCIS also confirmed that all Afghan immigration requests have been indefinitely suspended while the government conducts a security review.
The agency said the action was taken pending a review of “security and vetting protocols”.
The Trump administration has already moved to reduce refugee admissions.
In October, the government announced that the US would accept only 7,500 refugees in 2026, the lowest number since the refugee programme was created in 1980.
A separate review has been ordered into approximately 200,000 refugees admitted under former President Joe Biden’s administration. Green card applications from refugees arriving during that period have been paused.
In his statement, Trump also said the government would:
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End federal benefits for non-citizens
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Deport foreign nationals considered a “security risk”
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Remove people described as a “public charge”
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Begin denaturalisation proceedings against migrants who “undermine domestic tranquillity”
No legal details were provided on how denaturalisation would be carried out.
As of Thursday night:
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No executive order had been released
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No formal regulations had been published
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No official list of affected countries had been issued
The White House has not yet provided details on how the migration pause would be implemented or when it would take effect.
