Trump Stands Firm on Freezing Migration After DC Shooting
Washington, DC: Although multiple United Nations (UN) agencies, including the human rights office, have called on the US administration to continue allowing refugees into the country, President Donald Trump remains firm on his stance on “permanently pausing immigration from all third world countries.”
Posting on Truth Social, Trump cited Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to justify his actions to block immigration. Section 212(f) of the INA gives the U.S. president the authority to “suspend the entry” of “any applicant or class of applicant.”
It also allows the President to “impose any restrictions on the entry of applicants as he deems appropriate” for such period of time as he deems necessary after determining that their entry “might be prejudicial to the interests of the United States.”
Quoting Article 212(f) of the Convention, Trump said, “If the President determines that the entry of any alien or any class of aliens into the United States would be prejudicial to the interests of the United States, he may, by declaration and for such period as he deems necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens, whether immigrants or non-immigrants, or impose such other restrictions on the entry of aliens as he may deem appropriate.” INA.
The official address of the White House also published the same thing in X.
The Trump administration intensified immigration restrictions on Friday and implemented a series of increased security measures following a State Department directive that temporarily halted the issuance of visas to all travelers holding Afghan passports.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the decision in his post on the social media platform X: “President Trump’s State Department has stopped issuing visas to ALL individuals traveling with Afghan passports.”
“The United States has no higher priority than protecting our nation and our people,” he added.
Officials described the decision as part of a broader response to Wednesday’s shooting near the White House that seriously injured two National Guard soldiers.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow confirmed that asylum officers were instructed to stop making decisions until a thorough review of each applicant was completed.
“This pause will continue until we are satisfied that each alien has been properly vetted. The safety of the American people always comes first,” he said in a statement published on X.
Following a shooting near the White House on Wednesday that resulted in the death of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., one of them (Specialist Sarah Beckstrom) is dead and the other remains injured.
Lakanwal, the Afghan national accused of carrying out the attack, will be charged with first-degree murder, The Washington Post previously reported. Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for Washington DC, said other charges are likely to come against suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal.
The Washington Post reported that the upgrade to first-degree murder charges instead of the original assault charges raises the possibility that the suspected attacker will face the death penalty in the case.
Although the death penalty has been abolished in the District of Columbia, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday she will seek the death penalty against the man accused of shooting two West Virginia National Guard members in Washington, the Hill reported.
In August, US President Donald Trump announced that his government would seek the death penalty in every murder case that occurred in Washington DC.
Trump said Friday he would permanently pause immigration from all “third world countries” to allow the U.S. system to end illegal entries into the United States.
