New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump Friday said he will “permanently pause” migration from all “third world” countries and deport foreign nationals who are a “security risk” as his administration intensified crackdown on immigration in the wake of the killing of a National Guard member by an Afghan national.
The Trump administration said it will conduct a “rigorous” re-examination of all Green Cards issued to immigrants from “every country of concern”.
The new guidance came in the wake of the tragic shooting of US Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and US Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24 by Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal.
“Even as we have progressed technologically, Immigration Policy has eroded those gains and living conditions for many. 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, or is incapable of loving our Country,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
He said he would end all federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens in the 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”.
Trump asserted that these goals will be pursued with the “aim of achieving a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations, including those admitted through an unauthorised and illegal Autopen approval process”.
“Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation. Other than that, HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL, except those that hate, steal, murder, and destroy everything that America stands for — You won’t be here for long!” he said.
Trump announced on Thursday during a call with service members on Thanksgiving that Beckstrom had died of her injuries. Wolfe remained in critical condition.
Lakanwal, 29, had arrived in the US through a Biden-era immigration programme called ‘Operation Allies Welcome’ for Afghan nationals fleeing their country after the August 2021 Taliban takeover.
In another post, Trump lashed out at those who he said have allowed the country to be impacted by immigration policies.
“A very Happy Thanksgiving salutation to all of our Great American Citizens and Patriots who have been so nice in allowing our Country to be divided, disrupted, carved up, murdered, beaten, mugged, and laughed at, along with certain other foolish countries throughout the World, for being “Politically Correct,” and just plain STUPID, when it comes to Immigration.”
Trump said the official United States foreign population stands at “53 million people, most of which are on welfare, from failed nations, or from prisons, mental institutions, gangs, or drug cartels”.
“They and their children are supported through massive payments from Patriotic American Citizens who, because of their beautiful hearts, do not want to openly complain or cause trouble in any way, shape, or form. They put up with what has happened to our Country, but it’s eating them alive to do so!”
He said a migrant earning USD 30,000 with a Green Card will get roughly USD 50,000 in yearly benefits for their family.
“The real migrant population is much higher. This refugee burden is the leading cause of social dysfunction in America, something that did not exist after World War II (Failed schools, high crime, urban decay, overcrowded hospitals, housing shortages, and large deficits, etc.).”
He also said that hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia are “completely taking over” the state of Minnesota.
Trump also slammed Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, saying she is “always wrapped in her swaddling hijab, and who probably came into the USA illegally in that you are not allowed to marry your brother, does nothing but hatefully complain about our Country, its Constitution, and how ‘badly’ she is treated”.
Trump also posted a photo of hundreds of Afghan nationals huddled in an American military plane and brought to the US under the Biden administration in the wake of Taliban takeover in 2021.
“This is part of the horrendous airlift from Afghanistan. Hundreds of thousands of people poured into our Country totally unvetted and unchecked. We will fix it, but will never forget what Crooked Joe Biden and his Thugs did to our Country!”
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow said that at President Trump’s direction, he has “directed a full scale, rigorous re-examination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern”.
“The protection of this country and of the American people remains paramount, and the American people will not bear the cost of the prior administration’s reckless resettlement policies,” Edlow said in a post on X.
The policy guidance is effective immediately and applies to requests pending or filed on or after November 27, 2025.
In a statement, the USCIS said the agency has issued new guidance allowing for “negative, country-specific factors” to be considered when vetting aliens from 19 high-risk countries.
These countries are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Burundi, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and Yemen.
These are the same countries that were subject to a travel ban announced by Trump in a proclamation issued in June this year.
The proclamation ‘Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats’ restricted and limited the entry of nationals of these into the US and applied to both immigrants and non-immigrants.
The USCIS said that its new guidance comes after the Trump administration halted refugee resettlement from Afghanistan and the entry of Afghan nationals in its first year of office.
“My primary responsibility is to ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible,” Edlow said. “This includes an assessment of where they are coming from and why.”
Edlow said Wednesday’s horrific events make it abundantly clear the “Biden administration spent the last four years dismantling basic vetting and screening standards, prioritising the rapid resettlement of aliens from high-risk countries over the safety of American citizens. The Trump administration takes the opposite approach.”
He added that effective immediately, he is issuing the new policy guidance that authorises USCIS officers to consider country-specific factors as significant negative factors when reviewing immigration requests.
The updated guidance will allow USCIS officers to more meaningfully assess whether an alien is a threat to public safety and national security.
Trump has described the shooting as a “terrorist attack”.
To a question that Lakanwal had worked with the CIA in Afghanistan and had been vetted, Trump said the person “went cuckoo. I mean, he went nuts. And that happens too often with these people”.
PTI