Gunfire Echoes: Immigration Paused 🚨🇺🇸 Crisis?

World News

The U.S. president announced he would permanently pause migration from what he termed “third world countries” following a shooting that left two National Guard members dead. On Thursday, President Donald Trump posted on his Truth social media platform, stating he would “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover.” He also announced a review of permanent residency status for immigrants from 19 countries and stated he would “remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States,” along with ending all federal benefits and subsidies for noncitizens. Furthermore, he proposed denaturalizing migrants who undermine domestic tranquility and deporting any foreign national deemed a public charge, security risk, or incompatible with Western Civilization. This policy includes a review of the special visa program for Afghans who had worked with the U.S. in Afghanistan prior to the Taliban’s return. The announcement follows an order by the Trump administration to conduct a full review of permanent residency status for immigrants from 19 countries, triggered by an attack in Washington, D.C. that resulted in the deaths of two National Guard members. The attack was perpetrated by an Afghan national who entered the U.S. in 2021 after working with American military and intelligence services in Afghanistan.

Following Wednesday’s shooting near the White House, Joseph Edlow, director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), stated on X that he had directed a full-scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card application from every alien from every country of concern. In the wake of the shooting, the Trump administration had already suspended the processing of immigration applications from Afghanistan, along with Iran, Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Cuba, and Venezuela. The decision impacts 19 countries, which were initially identified in a June proclamation that had imposed entry restrictions on nationals from states deemed deficient in screening and vetting protocols. These countries included Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Cuba, Venezuela, Chad, and Eritrea. Critics have voiced concerns that the policy risks penalizing hundreds of thousands of lawful permanent residents based solely on nationality, and the extent to which the review will result in revocations or deportations remains currently unclear.