Trump halts immigration from 'third world' after DC shooting

Donald Trump has said he will “permanently pause migration from all third world countries,” a day after two national guard members were shot in Washington DC in an attack that has become a flashpoint in the president’s ongoing crackdown on immigration.

- Jonathan Yerushalmy Edward Helmore New York

In a social media post beginning with “a very happy Thanksgiving,” sent after 11pm on Thursday, the US president said his administration would “end all federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens” and remove “anyone who is not a net asset to the United States”.

Earlier in the evening, Trump announced the death of Sarah Beckstrom, one of the two guard members shot in the attack close to the White House on Wednesday.

Authorities suspect the shooting was carried out by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who entered the US in 2021 under a Biden-era programme that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands from Afghanistan after the chaotic US withdrawal from the country.

He was granted asylum in April this year, under the Trump administration, Reuters reported, and on Thursday the CIA confirmed he worked with military units backed by the agency during the US war in Afghanistan.

Lakanwal was injured in the attack and remains in custody. US authorities said he would be charged with first-degree murder. A second national guard member, Andrew Wolfe, 24, is still fighting for his life, according to the president.