Trump intensifies immigration crackdown following shooting

President Trumps recent statements on immigration have left many migrants uneasy, as his administration announced plans to significantly limit legal pathways to the United States following the fatal shooting of a National Guard member. The incident, which claimed the life of 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom on Wednesday, prompted Trump and his Cabinet to propose multiple immigration reforms, framing them as part of a Thanksgiving initiative to permanently pause migration from all Third World countries.

The administration has temporarily halted all pending asylum applications worldwide. For citizens of the 19 countries currently subject to the travel ban, Trump indicated that their immigration cases would also be paused, with the possibility of revoking green cards. Additionally, he stated that U.S. visas would no longer be issued to citizens of Afghanistan, the home country of the shooter, Rahmanullah Lakanwal.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem suggested that the policies could extend further, warning of potential actions against every country thats been sending criminals, welfare-dependent individuals, and undesirables, raising concerns about an expansion of the existing travel ban. Immigration advocates argue that the administration is using the shooting as a pretext to implement stricter measures that were already under consideration.

Jorge Loweree, managing director at the American Immigration Council, said, The president has a documented history of using tragedies and external events as justification for specific immigration policies. The broader objective here is clearly to sharply reduce legal immigration to the U.S.

Experts warn that these measures unfairly penalize entire populations for the actions of one individual. Shev Dalal-Dheini, senior director at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, noted that policies now target all asylum seekers, people from travel ban countries, and could expand further, reflecting long-standing administration goals against immigrants from certain regions.

On Thanksgiving, Trump defended these moves, stating they were necessary to allow the U.S. system to fully recover and remove anyone deemed a burden. He also promoted the concept of reverse migration as a solution to the current situation.

All proposed measures focus on legal immigrants. The day before the shooting, the administration announced a review of all refugee admissions authorized under the Biden administration, affecting roughly 200,000 people over four years, including about 80,000 Afghan evacuees. Lakanwal, the shooter, had been vetted under both administrations and had received approval verifying his work with U.S. forces.

Shawn VanDiver, president of AfghanEvac, criticized the resulting immigration policies as collective punishment, emphasizing that refugees are extensively vetted before arrival and continue to be monitored once in the U.S. Dalal-Dheini warned that pausing immigration applications could jeopardize national security by diverting resources away from evaluating new applicants.

At a recent Cabinet meeting, Trump outlined additional enforcement plans, including targeting Somali immigrants in Minneapolis, while criticizing the acceptance of migrants he deemed garbage. The current travel ban already includes Afghanistan, Somalia, and several other nations, while Trumps reference to all Third World countries left the scope of affected nations unclear, potentially even including large countries like India, according to Loweree.

Loweree observed that, collectively, the administrations changes severely restrict immigration, creating multiple barriers that prevent certain populations from entering the U.S., reflecting a clear intent to exclude groups deemed undesirable.

Author: Sophia Brooks