Trump pledged to “pause” immigration from poor countries in a social media post

President Donald Trump He says he wants to “permanently pause” immigration from poor countries, and promises to seek to expel millions of immigrants from the United States by revoking their legal status. He blames immigrants for problems ranging from crime to housing shortages as part of America’s “social dysfunction” and calls for “reverse immigration.”

His harshest anti-immigration social media post since returning to the Oval Office in January came after the Wednesday shooting of two National Guard members who were patrolling the streets of the nation’s capital on his orders. One died The other is in critical condition.

A 29-year-old Afghan national who worked with the CIA during the Afghanistan war faces charges. The suspect came to the United States as part of a program to resettle those who helped American forces after the American withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Trump’s threat to halt immigration would be a serious blow to a country that has long defined itself as welcoming to immigrants.

Since the shooting not far from the White House, administration officials have pledged to re-screen millions of legal immigrants, building on a 10-month campaign to reduce the number of immigrants. In a lengthy social media post late Thursday, the Republican president asserted that millions of people born outside the United States and now living in the country bear a large share of the blame for America’s societal ills.

Trump said on his platform, “The Social Truth,” that “only reverse immigration can completely remedy this situation.” “Otherwise, my thanks to everyone, except those who hate, steal, kill, and destroy everything America stands for — you won’t be here for long!”

Trump was elected on the promise of this Eliminating illegal immigrationHis administration’s raids and deportations have disrupted communities across the country. Construction sites and schools were frequent targets. The prospect of more deportations could be economically dire, as foreign-born American workers account for nearly 31 million jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The president said on Truth Social that “most” foreign-born American residents “are on welfare, from failed states, from prisons, mental institutions, gangs, or drug cartels,” as he blamed them for crimes across the country committed mostly by American citizens.

There are approximately 50 million foreign-born residents in the United States, and multiple studies have found that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes overall than people born in the country.

The perception that immigration breeds crime “continues to falter under the weight of evidence,” according to a review of academic literature last year in the journal Annual Review of Criminology.

“With few exceptions, studies conducted at both the aggregate and individual levels show that high concentrations of immigrants are not associated with increased levels of crime and delinquency across neighborhoods and cities in the United States," He said.

A He studies A study by economists first released in 2023 found that immigrants are 60% less likely to be incarcerated than people born in the United States. The study found that immigrants were incarcerated at lower rates for 150 years, adding to previous research that undermines Trump’s claims.

Trump appeared to have little interest in the political debate in his post, which the White House, on its Rapid Response social media account, described as “one of the most important messages President Trump has ever delivered.”

He pledged to “end” the millions of entries into the country that took place during the term of his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden. He also wants to end federal benefits and subsidies for those who are not US citizens, strip people who “undermine domestic tranquility” of their citizenship, and deport foreign nationals deemed “incompatible with Western civilization.”

Trump claimed that immigrants from Somalia “have completely taken over the once-great state of Minnesota,” as he used an old insult for people with intellectual disabilities to disparage that state’s governor, Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee last year.

On Wednesday night, Trump called for a reinvestigation Of all Afghan refugees who entered under the Biden administration. USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said Thursday that the agency will take additional steps to screen people from 19 “high-risk” countries “to the greatest extent possible.”

Edlo did not mention the names of the countries. But in June,management Ban on travel to the United States By citizens of 12 countries, access to seven other countries has been restricted, due to national security concerns.

The shooting of two National Guard members appeared to spark Trump’s anger about immigrants, but he did not specifically reference the event in his social media post.

The suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is accused of driving cross-country to the District of Columbia and shooting two West Virginia National Guard members, Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Sgt. Andrew Wolf, 24 years old. Beckstrom died Thursday. Wolf is in critical condition.

The suspect, who is currently in custody, was also shot and sustained injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.

A reporter asked Trump on Thursday whether he blamed the shootings on all Afghans who came to the United States.

“No, but we had a lot of problems with the Afghans,” the president said.

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