Trump says US will pause migration from ‘third-world international locations’

US President Donald Trump has threatened to escalate his crackdown on immigration – pledging to “completely pause migration” to the US from all “third world international locations” as he hit out in opposition to his nation’s “refugee burden”.

Trump’s social media put up got here after he introduced {that a} US Nationwide Guard member had died after a taking pictures in Washington DC – for which an Afghan nationwide has been blamed.

He didn’t give additional particulars or identify which international locations is perhaps affected. Such a plan may face authorized challenges and has already prompted pushback from UN businesses.

The president’s bulletins after Wednesday’s deadly assault characterize an extra toughening of his stance in direction of migrants throughout his second presidency.

Amongst different strikes, Trump has sought to enact mass deportations of migrants who entered the US illegally, to drastically minimize the annual variety of refugee admissions, and to finish computerized citizenship rights that presently apply to almost anybody born on US territory.

Within the wake of Wednesday’s taking pictures, Trump promised to take away from the US any foreigner “from any nation who doesn’t belong right here”. The identical day, the US suspended processing all immigration requests from Afghans, saying the choice was made pending a evaluation of “safety and vetting protocols”.

Then on Thursday, the US Citizenship and Immigration Providers (USCIS) stated it will re-examine inexperienced playing cards issued to people who had migrated to the US from 19 international locations. The company didn’t explicitly point out Wednesday’s assault.

When requested by the BBC which international locations had been on the listing, the USCIS pointed to a June proclamation by the White Home that included Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Somalia and Venezuela. There have been no additional particulars about what the re-examination would appear to be.

Trump’s strongly worded two-part put up on Thursday night time went additional nonetheless, pledging to “finish all federal advantages and subsidies to noncitizens”.

The US president wrote in a Fact Social put up that this might “enable the US system to totally get well” from insurance policies that had eroded the “positive factors and dwelling situations” of many People.

Within the put up, the president additionally blamed refugees for inflicting the “social dysfunction in America” and vowed to take away “anybody who isn’t a internet asset” to the US.

The put up, which Trump launched as a “Completely happy Thanksgiving salutation”, was full of anti-immigrant language.

He stated that “lots of of 1000’s of refugees from Somalia had been fully taking on the as soon as nice State of Minnesota” and took explicit goal on the state’s Democratic lawmakers.

“I’ll completely pause migration from all Third World Nations to permit the U.S. system to totally get well,” the president wrote.

The phrase “third world” is a time period that was used up to now to explain poorer, creating nations.

The White Home and USCIS haven’t but given additional particulars of Trump’s plan, which Trump didn’t instantly hyperlink in his put up to Wednesday’s assault.

The president had already imposed a journey ban on nationals of Afghanistan – and 11 different international locations, primarily in Africa and Asia – earlier this yr. One other journey ban focusing on plenty of majority-Muslim international locations was enacted throughout his first time period.

The UN responded to Trump’s phrases by urging his administration to look at worldwide agreements relating to asylum seekers.

“We anticipate all international locations, together with the USA, to honour their commitments underneath the 1953 Refugee Conference,” the deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary normal instructed Reuters.

The Trump response amounted to a “scapegoating” of migrants within the US, argued Jeremy McKinney, president of the American Immigration Legal professionals Affiliation.

Chatting with the BBC World Service’s Newsday programme earlier than Trump’s newest feedback, Mr McKinney highlighted that the attacker’s motive was not identified.

“These kinds of points – they do not know pores and skin color, they do not know nationality,” he stated. “When an individual turns into radicalised or is struggling some sort of psychological sickness, that particular person can come from any background.”

The flurry of bulletins come after officers stated that the suspect within the Washington DC taking pictures, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, had come to the US in 2021.

He travelled underneath a programme that supplied particular immigration protections to Afghans who had labored with US forces within the wake of the American withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Info is continuous to emerge in regards to the extent of Mr Lakanwal’s work alongside the People.

Mr Lakanwal beforehand labored alongside the CIA, the company’s present director has stated.

He helped guard US forces at Kabul airport as 1000’s scrambled to flee Afghanistan earlier than the Taliban took energy, a former navy commander who served alongside him instructed the BBC.

The daddy of 5 had been recruited to Unit 03 of the Kandahar Strike Pressure, 9 years earlier.

His unit was identified domestically as Scorpion Forces, working initially underneath the CIA however finally for the Afghan intelligence division generally known as the Nationwide Directorate of Safety.

Mr Lakanwal was a GPS tracker specialist, the previous commander instructed the BBC, describing him as a “sporty and jolly character”.

Mr Lakanwal would have been vetted by the US each on the time the he began his work alongside the CIA, and when he in the end travelled to the US, in keeping with a senior US official who spoke to CNN.

A childhood buddy instructed the New York Occasions that Mr Lakanwal had skilled psychological well being points after his work along with his unit.

Mr Lakanwal later utilized for asylum in 2024. His software was granted earlier this yr, reportedly after Trump returned to energy.

However Mr Lakanwal’s request for a inexperienced card, which is tied to the asylum grant, is pending, a Homeland Safety official instructed CBS.

The suspect was arrested after the assault and was stated to be not co-operating with authorities. Trump described the incident as an “act of terror”.

He stated the next day that one of many two members of the Nationwide Guard who had been shot had died.

Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old from West Virginia, was working within the metropolis as a part of Trump’s deployment of Nationwide Guard members to crack down on crime.

She had volunteered to work in DC over the US Thanksgiving vacation, Lawyer Common Pam Bondi stated.

The second Nationwide Guard member, 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, was stated by Trump to be “combating for his life”.

Observe the twists and turns of Trump’s second time period with North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher’s weekly US Politics Unspun e-newsletter. Readers within the UK can join right here. These outdoors the UK can join right here.