Barely one day after an Afghan national allegedly shot two National Guard soldiers in Washington, killing one, Donald Trump said that he would suspend migration from what the US leader called “third world countries”.
His angry post, which also threatened to reverse “millions” of admissions granted under his predecessor, Joe Biden, marked a new escalation in the anti-migration stance of a second term that has been dominated by Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
Trump had earlier announced that Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old West Virginia National Guard member deployed in Washington as part of his crackdown on crime, had died from her wounds.
The FBI has launched an international terror investigation as new details emerged about the alleged gunman, a 29-year-old Afghan national who had served with US troops in Afghanistan.
The shooting on Wednesday, which officials described as an “ambush-style” attack, brings together three politically explosive issues: Trump’s controversial use of the military at home, immigration, and the legacy of the US war in Afghanistan.
“I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover,” Trump wrote on social media.
He also threatened to reverse “millions” of admissions granted under his predecessor Joe Biden, and to “remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States.”
In a Thanksgiving video call with US troops, the Republican leader said: “I want to express the anguish and the horror of our entire nation at the terrorist attack yesterday in our nation’s capital.”
Trump linked the shooting and his decision to send hundreds of National Guard troops to the city.
