Trump wants to freeze migration from ‘Third World Countries’ after shooting near White House

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday his administration will "permanently pause" migration from all "Third World Countries", following an attack near the White House he attributed to Biden-era immigration vetting failures.

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 U.S. 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.

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."

White House and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Trump's comments followed the death of a National Guard member who had been shot near the White House in an ambush investigators say was carried out by an Afghan national.

Earlier, officials from the Department of Homeland Security officials said that Trump had ordered a widespread review of asylum cases approved under Biden's administration and Green Cards issued to citizens of 19 countries.

The alleged gunman was granted asylum this year under Trump, according to a U.S. government file seen by Reuters.

The Afghan immigrant, identified as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, had entered the U.S. in 2021 under a resettlement program.

The resettlement program was set up by Biden after the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 that led to the rapid collapse of the Afghan government and the country's takeover by the Taliban.

In a separate post prior to the announcement, Trump claimed that hundreds of thousands of people poured into the U.S. totally "unvetted and unchecked" during what he described as the "horrendous" airlift from Afghanistan.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Wednesday stopped processing all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals indefinitely.

"These goals will be pursued with the aim of achieving a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations," Trump said.

"Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation."

The shooting of U.S. troops on American soil by an immigrant is expected to have far-reaching implications across the American political landscape.

Even though Lakanwal was in the country legally, the incident bolsters Trump’s immigration agenda. Cracking down on both legal and illegal immigration has been a key focus of his presidency, and this case gave him an opportunity to broaden the debate beyond legality to include stricter vetting of immigrants.

-Rishabh Jaiswal and Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru/Reuters