The day after the shooting which cost the life of a member of the National Guard in Washington, US President Donald Trump announced that he wanted to âpermanently suspendâ immigration from what he calls âthird worldâ countries. A statement with a radical tone, formulated in the heat of the moment after the attack that occurred near the White House and committed by an Afghan national who arrived in the United States in 2021.
The alleged perpetrator of the shooting, arrested after shooting two soldiers, was one of the thousands of Afghans resettled in the United States after the fall of Kabul. According to the authorities, the tragedy immediately reignited the debate on the policy of welcoming nationals from conflict zones. The death of soldier Sarah Beckstrom added considerable emotional weight to an already politically explosive affair.
Shortly after news of the soldier’s death broke, Trump issued a message saying that “permanent migration from poor and unstable nations will be paused for good.” This unprecedented formulation suggests a potentially massive freeze which would go beyond the Afghan case alone. The United States had already undertaken a comprehensive review of green cards issued to nationals of 19 countries considered high risk.
Suspension of procedures
The White House had also suspended all current Afghan immigration applications, a measure which could now extend to a wider group of countries. The government justifies this hard line by security imperatives, while asserting that existing resettlement programs have âlet dangerous individuals throughâ.
This reaction raises many questions. Several human rights organizations denounce a logic of collective punishment which equates all migrants from certain countries with a potential threat. Other observers point out that the majority of the 77,000 Afghans welcomed since 2021 have no link with criminal activities, and that this toughening risks weakening families already exposed to dramatic situations.
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