President Donald Trump announced plans Thursday to "permanently pause migration from all third world countries" following an attack on two National Guard members by a suspect identified as an Afghan national.
In a fiery post on Truth Social, Trump vowed to terminate millions of immigration cases approved under the Biden administration and deport any foreign national deemed a security risk, public charge or "non-compatible with Western civilization."
The directive comes after the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington D.C. Wednesday.
"This attack underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation," Trump said later that day.
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The Trump administration has already suspended all immigration applications from Afghan nationals. On Friday, the State Department also immediately paused issuing visas to those traveling on Afghan passports.
"Afghans are terrified that they're going to be held accountable for this one deranged gunman's actions, and they don't know what to do. They know that it's not their fault. They know they didn't do this. They know that. That Afghans don't wish to cause Americans harm," Shawn VanDiver, founder and President of AfghanEvac, told Scripps News.
While Trump did not identify which specific countries would be targeted in his plan, the head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Joseph Edlow said the agency has been ordered to take enhanced steps to screen migrants from "high-risk" countries.
The agency pointed to a June proclamation that listed countries from which the U.S. banned and restricted travel, including nations across Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean and parts of Asia.
Trump said on Truth Social an influx of refugees is the "leading cause of social dysfunction in America" and appeared to blame migrants for higher crime. However, this claim has been increasingly debunked by migration policy experts.
According to an annual review of criminology report, "high concentrations of immigrants are not associated with increased levels of crime and delinquency across neighborhoods and cities in the United States."
A 2023 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that immigrants are 60 percent less likely to be incarcerated than people born in the U.S. According to the study, that has been the case for at least 150 years.
