Washington — A day after a National Guard soldier died in a terror attack just a few blocks from the White House, President Donald Trump launched into one of his strongest anti-immigration rants yet. In a pair of emotional social media posts, he warned of a “permanent pause on migration from all Third World countries,” along with mass deportations and even canceling citizenship for immigrants he says are “incompatible with Western civilization.”

Trump’s outburst came after 20-year-old Sarah Brackman died from injuries sustained in Wednesday’s attack. The accused attacker, Rahatullah Lakanwal, is an Afghan national who once worked with the CIA. Trump used the incident to criticize decades of bipartisan immigration policies, accusing them of putting American lives at risk and claiming, without evidence, that millions of immigrants depend on welfare or come from criminal backgrounds.

New USCIS Guidelines Target 19 Countries

Even as Trump vented online, USCIS quietly issued updated guidelines to re-evaluate green cards issued to people from 19 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, Haiti, Yemen and Venezuela. The agency will now consider “negative country-specific factors” when assessing immigrant eligibility.

If implemented through executive order, these rules could go far beyond the travel ban Trump introduced during his first term, marking one of the toughest immigration crackdowns in modern U.S. history.

Trump’s Claims Don’t Match Data

Immigration experts and non-partisan studies have repeatedly rejected the President’s sweeping claims. Immigrants are generally barred from most federal benefits, and a 2024 Congressional Budget Office report showed immigrants contribute $1.6 trillion more in taxes than they use in government services over the long term.

Studies also indicate the U.S. will need more immigrants in the coming decades to support programs like Social Security.

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Minnesota Becomes a Target

Trump also zeroed in on Minnesota, home to a long-established Somali community. He claimed the state is being “taken over” and painted a picture of widespread lawlessness. But census data shows the Somali-ancestry population is closer to 64,000–80,000, and while some gang-related crimes exist, Somali-American entrepreneurship has boosted the state economy for years.

His comments escalated into personal attacks against Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, repeating old, debunked allegations about her immigration history.

A New Phase in Trump’s Immigration Agenda

With rising tensions after the deadly attack, Trump’s warnings signal that he is prepared to push immigration policy into territory no modern administration has ventured. His proposals include:

• Pausing all migration from dozens of developing nations
• Canceling citizenship for people he calls “a threat to domestic tranquility”
• Deporting immigrants not considered a “net asset”
• Ending all federal subsidies and benefits for non-citizens

The coming months will show whether these ideas remain political rhetoric or move closer to policy through executive action.