The American president Donald Trump announced on Thursday evening that his administration will impose a “permanent suspension” on immigration from “third world countries,” just hours after a National Guard soldier was killed in a shooting near the White House perpetrated by an Afghan immigrant.
In a lengthy post on his platform “Truth Social,” Trump described immigrants coming from these countries as “direct security threats” and “an unacceptable economic burden,” accusing the policies of Joe Biden’s previous administration of having “weakened America technologically and security-wise by receiving ‘millions of people from failed states.'”
Details of the Attack that Sparked the Crisis
The soldier Sarah Beckstrom (20 years old) from Minnesota was killed on Thursday morning when she was shot by an Afghan immigrant named Mohammad Rahmani (29 years old), who entered the United States in 2021 as a refugee under the Afghan evacuation program after the fall of Kabul. The attacker was killed in a shootout with the Secret Service.
Immediate Actions: Review of 19 Countries
Although Trump spoke about preventing immigration from third world countries, he did not specify the targeted countries; however, a directive from the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department hours after “Trump’s post” revealed the targeted countries at this stage.
According to the directive, the decision now targets countries already on the list of “countries of special security interest”, which Trump classified last June and include.
- Afghanistan
- Myanmar (Burma)
- Chad
- Republic of Congo
- Guinea
- Eritrea
- Haiti
- Iran
- Libya
- Somalia
- Sudan
- Yemen
- Burundi
- Cuba
- Laos
- Sierra Leone
- Togo
- Turkmenistan
- Venezuela
Of these, the first 12 countries are subject to a complete ban on issuing new visas, while the other seven are subject to partial bans or strict restrictions.
