President Trump said Wednesday's "heinous assault" on two National Guard members near the White House proves that lax migration policies are "the single greatest national security threat facing our nation." "No country can tolerate such a risk to our very survival," he said. Trump's remarks, released in a video on social media, underscores his intention to reshape the country's immigration system and increase scrutiny of migrants who are already here, the AP reports. With aggressive deportation efforts already underway, his response to the shooting showed that his focus will not waver.
The suspect in the shooting is believed to be an Afghan national, according to Trump and two law enforcement officials. He entered the United States in September 2021, after the chaotic collapse of the government in Kabul, when Americans were frantically evacuating people as the Taliban took control. The 29-year-old suspect was part of Operation Allies Welcome, the Biden-era program that resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the US withdrawal from the country, officials said. The initiative brought roughly 76,000 Afghans to the United States, many of whom had worked alongside American troops and diplomats as interpreters and translators.
It has since faced intense scrutiny from Trump and his allies, congressional Republicans and some government watchdogs over gaps in the vetting process and the speed of admissions, even as advocates say it offered a lifeline to people at risk of Taliban reprisals. Trump described Afghanistan as "a hellhole on earth," and he said his administration would review everyone who entered from the country under President Biden—a measure his administration had already been planning before the incident. During his remarks, Trump also swung his focus to Minnesota, where he complained about "hundreds of thousands of Somalians" who are "ripping apart that once-great state." Minnesota has the country's largest Somali community, roughly 87,000 people. Many came as refugees over the years.
Vice President JD Vance, writing on social media, criticized Biden for "opening the floodgate to unvetted Afghan refugees," adding that "they shouldn't have been in our country." "Already some voices in corporate media chirp that our immigration policies are too harsh," he said. "Tonight is a reminder of why they're wrong." The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it would indefinitely stop processing all immigration requests for Afghan nationals pending a review of security and vetting protocols.
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