President Donald J. Trump has criticised decades of US immigration policy, characterising it as 'Politically Correct' and 'STUPID,' and claiming it had left the nation 'divided, disrupted, carved up, murdered, beaten, mugged, and laughed at.' Photo: VI Consortium

The remarks came one day after an Afghan national shot and critically wounded two West Virginia National Guardsmen near the White House, an incident Trump has cited in renewed calls for enhanced vetting and enforcement. On Thursday, one of the two Guardsmen shot in the incident, Sarah Beckstrom, died after being in critical condition.

'Politically Correct' & 'Stupid'

In the post, Trump criticised decades of U.S. immigration policy, characterising it as “Politically Correct” and “STUPID,” and claiming it had left the nation “divided, disrupted, carved up, murdered, beaten, mugged, and laughed at.” He referenced census figures estimating the foreign-born population at 53 million, asserting that arrivals from “failed nations” have contributed to challenges such as crime, urban decay, and strains on public services. Trump singled out Minnesota, alleging that Somali refugee resettlement has harmed the state and blaming local officials for not addressing issues he associated with the community.

Trump’s proposal includes terminating millions of immigration approvals he attributed to the Biden administration, ordering what he called “REVERSE MIGRATION,” removing individuals he described as not being “net assets,” ending federal benefits for noncitizens, denaturalising those he said undermine “domestic tranquility,” and deporting foreign nationals considered security risks or “incompatible with Western Civilisation.” He also vowed to halt programs he said were authorised by autopen signatures.

As part of the policy emphasis, the administration earlier Thursday directed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to reexamine green cards issued to individuals from 19 “countries of concern”: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said the review targets nations with weak cooperation on deportations, high overstay rates, vetting concerns, or elevated terrorism risk.

Afghan asylum seeker shoots Guardsmen

The shift was prompted in part by Wednesday’s shooting, in which 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal—an Afghan asylum recipient who entered the U.S. in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome— ambushed two National Guardsmen. Lakanwal was approved for asylum in April 2025, and now faces charges including assault with intent to kill, with prosecutors noting potential enhancements if the victims succumb. Authorities have not confirmed a motive, though some reports claimed he shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the attack.

Following the incident, Trump announced the deployment of an additional 500 National Guard troops to the District of Columbia and ordered an indefinite halt to Afghan immigration processing, while simultaneously challenging a federal court order directing the withdrawal of certain military personnel. Senior adviser Stephen Miller defended the measures, citing what he called vetting failures linked to Lakanwal’s background in a CIA-supported Afghan unit.

Critics, including immigrant-rights advocates, warned that broad pauses and green-card reviews could sweep in legal residents, intensify existing backlogs, and potentially raise due-process concerns. Officials did not provide a timeline for completion of the green-card review, saying only that national security remains the priority.

Although the term “Third World” is outdated and widely criticised for oversimplifying political and economic conditions, it originally referred to nations that were neither aligned with the U.S./NATO bloc (“First World”) nor the Soviet bloc (“Second World”). Historically, this category has included much of Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of the Middle East. Countries often listed under the term—based on longstanding geopolitical usage rather than contemporary policy designations—include Haiti, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Laos, Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad, Niger, Mali, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and many others across the Global South. 

The developments highlight renewed tension over immigration policy following the attack near the White House, with bipartisan expressions of sympathy for the Guardsmen alongside sharply divided views on Trump’s proposed reforms.