The Trump governance is halting all asylum decisions in the wake of the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington DC, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) director Joseph Edlow has said.
On Friday, in a post on X, Edlow said the pause would be in place “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible”.
The announcement comes hours after President Donald Trump pledged to “permanently pause migration” to the US from all “third world countries”.
On Thursday, Trump announced that a US National Guard member had died from her injuries after WednesdayS shooting, for wich an Afghan national has been blamed.
officers at the USCIS,a branch of the Department of Homeland Security,were instructed to refrain from approving,denying or closing asylum applications received by the agency for all nationalities,according to report
Trump Links DC Shooting to Immigration,Vows to Halt ‘Third World’ Migration
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Former President Donald Trump has responded to a recent shooting in Washington D.C.wiht heightened anti-immigrant rhetoric, promising to halt migration from what he termed “Third World Countries.” The suspect in the shooting, identified as Rahmanullah lakanwal, an Afghan national, arrived in the U.S. in 2021 through a program for Afghans who assisted U.S. forces.
Trump claimed that “hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia were completely taking over the once great State of Minnesota” and criticized Democratic lawmakers.He announced his intention to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries” to allow the U.S. immigration system to “fully recover.” The term “third world” is considered outdated and historically referred to developing nations.
This announcement follows earlier travel bans enacted during Trump’s presidency, targeting nationals from afghanistan and other countries, primarily in Africa and Asia, as well as majority-Muslim nations.
The United Nations has urged the Trump administration to uphold international agreements regarding asylum seekers,specifically referencing the 1953 Refugee convention.
Experts,like Jeremy McKinney,president of the american Immigration Lawyers Association,argue that Trump’s response amounts to “scapegoating” migrants.McKinney emphasized that radicalization and mental illness are not tied to nationality or skin color, stating that such issues “can come from any background.”
Lakanwal, the shooting suspect, previously worked with the CIA, guarding U.S.forces at Kabul airport during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan. He had been recruited nine years prior to Unit 03 of the Kandahar Strike Force, known locally as Scorpion Forces, which initially operated under CIA supervision.
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