Trump vows to freeze immigration from “Third World Countries” following Washington, DC shooting

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday his administration will “permanently pause” migration from all “Third World Countries”, following the death of a National Guard member in an attack near the White House.

The comments mark a further escalation of migration measures Trump has ordered since the shooting on Wednesday that investigators say was carried out by an Afghan national who entered the United States in 2021 under a resettlement program.

Trump did not identify any countries by name or explain what he meant by third-world countries or “permanently pause”. He said the plan would include cases approved under former President Joe Biden’s administration.

“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,” he said on his social media platform, Truth Social.

“Non-compatible with Western civilization”

Trump said he would end all federal benefits and subsidies for “non-citizens”, adding he would “denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility” and deport any foreign national deemed a public charge, security risk, or “non-compatible with Western civilization.”

The White House and US Citizenship and Immigration Services did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

United Nations agencies appealed to Washington to continue allowing asylum seekers access to the country and to be given due process.

“We expect all countries, including the United States, to honour their commitments under the 1953 Refugee Convention,” Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary general, told Reuters.

UN human rights office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence told a Geneva press briefing: “They are entitled to protection under international law, and that should be given due process.”