New Delhi: Days after an Afghan national allegedly opened fire at two National Guard members near the White House, US President Donald Trump has announced a sweeping immigration decision, stating he intends to “permanently pause migration from all Third World countries.” The proposed move, if implemented, could significantly affect millions seeking entry into the US for education, work, safety or asylum, and may reshape global migration patterns.
In a sharply-worded post on Truth Social on Thursday, President Trump stated that while the United States has advanced technologically, immigration policies over the years have weakened the country’s progress and impacted living standards. He wrote: “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, end all Federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens of our 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.”
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According to President Trump, the objective behind the policy is to dramatically reduce what he called “illegal and destabilizing populations.” He argued that the only effective long-term solution is what he termed “reverse migration.” Ending his statement, President Trump wrote: “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.”
Earlier, US Customs and Immigration Service Director Joseph Edlow said on Thursday that under President Trump’s orders, he has “directed a full-scale, rigorous re-examination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern”. India is not on the list of countries of concern, nor are others from South Asia, except for Afghanistan. The actions followed Wednesday’s shooting rampage by Rahmanullah Lakanwal near the White House.
One of the National Guard soldiers he shot, Sarah Beckstrom, died on Thursday, while the other is in a critical condition in a hospital. Lakanwal, who was injured before his capture, is also in hospital. Soon after the shooting, President Trump said, “We must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan”. Under the broadened scrutiny announced by Eldow, several hundred thousand Green Card holders from the 19 countries will be put under “rigorous re-examination”.
President Trump had put those countries under a watch list in June and restricted the issuing of visas to their citizens, expressing concern over the ability of the US to vet the applicants from there. The other countries on the list are Burma, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. Lakanwal, who had worked with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Afghanistan, came to the US under programmes to protect Afghans who had cooperated with the US when the Taliban took over.