Trump orders migration freeze from ‘Third World Countries’

President Donald Trump pledged to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries” following a deadly shooting in Washington, D.C., that killed a National Guard member and critically injured another.

Driving the news: An Afghan national identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, allegedly shot two National Guard members near the White House last Wednesday, killing Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and leaving Andrew Wolfe, 24, fighting for his life. Lakanwal had worked with the CIA against the Taliban and entered the U.S. in 2021 under a Biden-era resettlement program following the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, though he was granted asylum in April under the Trump administration.

In the days following the shooting, Trump launched attacks on Minnesota leaders, claiming without evidence that “hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia are completely taking over the once great State of Minnesota” and accusing Somali gangs of “roving the streets looking for ‘prey.’” He also used a derogatory slur to describe Gov. Tim Walz while mocking Rep. Ilhan Omar for being “always wrapped in her swaddling hijab.” When a reporter asked what Somalis had to do with the D.C. shooting, Trump responded “nothing” but added that “Somalians have caused a lot of trouble.”

Blanket policy: Trump announced the migration pause on Truth Social Thursday, vowing to “terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions” and remove anyone “not a net asset to the United States.” By Sunday, he told reporters aboard Air Force One the pause has “no time limit, but it could be a long time,” adding that “we don’t want those people” from countries “that are not friendly to us” and are “out of control themselves.”

Beyond the pause itself, Trump pledged to end federal benefits for non-citizens, denaturalize migrants who “undermine domestic tranquility” and deport anyone deemed “non-compatible with Western civilization.” He also declared “only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation.”

Pushing back, Walz told NBC Sunday that Trump’s insult was “a badge of honor” and that the president “normalized this type of hateful behavior” to “distract from his incompetency.” Meanwhile, Sen. Amy Klobuchar told CNN that Trump was trying to “stoke division and make people hate each other,” noting he “took that case, and then he went 2,400 miles away to Somalia and somehow indicted an entire group of people.”

What this means: Trump’s promise to freeze migration from Third World countries creates immediate uncertainty for Asian American communities, as the administration has offered no definition of which nations qualify or how long “permanently pause” actually lasts. The deliberate vagueness gives the administration wide latitude to target countries based on shifting political priorities rather than clear criteria. Many Asian nations, from South Asia to Southeast Asia, could easily fall under this expansive description of places that are “crime-ridden” or “not friendly to us.”

The potential impact is staggering as Asian immigrants represent approximately 13 million people and constitute the largest share of temporary visa holders among the 55 million people now under review. The freeze would immediately halt family reunifications, leaving U.S. citizens and permanent residents unable to sponsor relatives. Approved applicants also could be stranded indefinitely, with their years-long application processes rendered meaningless overnight.

When combined with the administration’s case-by-case review of green cards from 19 “high-risk” countries following a June travel ban on Afghanistan and other nations, plus the complete halt to asylum processing, Trump’s announcement signals a wholesale reimagining of who can enter the U.S., one that threatens to close the door on Asian immigration for the foreseeable future.