President Donald Trump moved to expand one of the most sweeping immigration crackdowns of his administration after a National Guard specialist was fatally shot near the White House, announcing plans to "permanently pause migration from all third world countries" and to re-examine U.S. immigration benefits for millions of noncitizens. The directives followed the killing of Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, one of two Guard members shot Wednesday in what officials described as a targeted attack blocks from the executive mansion.
The shooting, which authorities say was carried out by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national, immediately shifted the administration's immigration posture into crisis mode. In a late-night message on Truth Social, Trump opened with "a very happy Thanksgiving" before promising a permanent halt to migration from unspecified nations and blaming migrants for "high crime" and the country's "rising deficit." He also vowed to "end all federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens" and remove "anyone who is not a net asset to the United States."
Lakanwal's background complicates the administration's narrative. Reuters reported, and the CIA confirmed, that he had previously worked with U.S.-backed military units in Afghanistan. He entered the United States in September 2021 under "Operation Allies Welcome," the Biden-era program that resettled tens of thousands of Afghans following the U.S. withdrawal. He was granted asylum in April under the Trump administration. Lakanwal remains in custody after being wounded in the exchange, while Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, 24, is "fighting for his life," Trump said.
Within 24 hours of the shooting, federal agencies announced a layered series of policy reversals. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) first halted all immigration processing related to Afghan nationals pending a review of security protocols. Later, the Department of Homeland Security expanded that review to include every asylum case approved during the Biden administration, but stopped short of specifying whether it applied only to Afghan cases or those involving additional nationalities.
Joseph Edlow, the USCIS director, said he was acting on a direct order from Trump to initiate a "full-scale, rigorous re-examination of every green card for every alien from every country of concern." USCIS officials subsequently pointed reporters to a June presidential proclamation restricting immigration from 19 nations, a list that includes Afghanistan, Somalia, Burundi, Laos, Togo, Venezuela, Sierra Leone, and Turkmenistan.
Trump also singled out Somali communities in Minnesota in the same Thanksgiving post, one week after pledging to terminate Temporary Protected Status for Somalis living in the state. The remarks intensified political tensions surrounding the administration's broader immigration agenda, which has included months of National Guard deployments in the capital under a declared "crime emergency."
The troops' presence in Washington has been contested in court. A federal judge ordered the deployment ended last week, though enforcement was delayed for 21 days to allow the administration to appeal. Following Wednesday's shooting, Trump said he would dispatch an additional 500 Guard members to the city, citing ongoing threats and the need for "restoring order."
