President Donald Trump of the United States has signalled a major shift in America’s immigration policy, announcing plans for a permanent halt to migration from “Third World countries.”
Third World countries is a term used to refer to developing nations, especially in Africa.
Speaking during a Thanksgiving service, the American President said decades-old immigration frameworks were weakening national security and straining public services.
He said the U.S. foreign-born population had reached 53 million and “failed nations, prisons, mental institutions, gangs, or drug cartels” were contributing to rising migration.
“America has been divided, disrupted, carved up, murdered, beaten, mugged, and laughed at,” he said, arguing that the immigration system has imposed a heavy financial and social burden on U.S. communities.
Trump claimed that migrants with green cards earning modest incomes were able to access substantial government benefits, which he said contributed to “social dysfunction” in the country.
He gave examples ranging from crime and overburdened schools to hospital congestion and housing shortages.
Citing Minnesota as an example, Trump alleged that incoming refugees from Somalia had transformed the state in ways he described as harmful.
“Our people stay locked in their apartments and houses hoping against hope that they will be left alone,” he said.
The president said the country’s “progress has been eroded” and outlined a sweeping set of actions he intends to pursue. Central to his plan is a permanent suspension of migration from all countries he categorised as ‘Third World’, many of which are developing nations in Africa, Asia, and parts of Latin America.
“I will permanently pause migration from all Third World countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover,” he said.
He also pledged to reverse what he called “illegal admissions” under the Biden administration, revoke federal benefits for non-citizens, and remove immigrants he considers security risks or financial liabilities.
According to Trump, the push will include denaturalising individuals who “undermine domestic tranquility” and deporting foreign nationals who are “non-compatible with Western civilization.”
He added that the overall aim is a “major reduction” of what he described as illegal or disruptive populations, insisting that “reverse migration” is the only lasting solution.
Trump concluded his message with a politically charged Thanksgiving greeting, adding: “You won’t be here for long” in reference to those he accused of undermining American values.
The announcement comes in the wake of a shooting incident in Washington, D.C., in which two National Guard members were injured.
Authorities said the suspect arrived in the United States in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome after assisting U.S. forces in Afghanistan and was granted asylum last year.
