Trump said he will ‘permanently pause’ all immigration from ‘Third World Countries’ after two National Guard members in D.C. were shot
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said in a series of social media posts on Thanksgiving Day that he will “permanently pause” all immigration from what he called “Third World Countries,” prompting concern from Catholic immigration advocates.
Trump’s comments followed the shooting of two West Virginia National Guard members in the nation’s capital Nov. 26. The victims were 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, who died from her injuries Nov. 27, and 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, who remained in serious condition Dec. 1. Authorities identified Rahmanullah Lakanwal as the suspect in the shooting, an Afghan national.
On Nov. 27, the State Department subsequently stopped the issuance of U.S. visas for all Afghan nationals, arguing on social media it was “taking all necessary steps to protect U.S. national security and public safety.”
Anna Gallagher, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc., or CLINIC, said in a Dec. 1 statement the organization “firmly rejects any call to ‘permanently pause migration.’”
“As we enter the Advent season, we remember that the Holy Family themselves were migrants seeking safety,” Gallagher said. “Catholic social teaching is clear: every person has inherent dignity, and those fleeing danger must be protected, not turned away. Proposals like this betray both our moral values and our nation’s long commitment to offering refuge.”
In his posts, Trump argued the action was part of an “aim of achieving a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations.”
But J. Kevin Appleby, senior fellow for policy at the Center for Migration Studies of New York and the former director of migration policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Dec. 1, “The administration is using this tragedy as a political opportunity to advance its anti-immigrant agenda. It’s a page out of the nativist playbook: blame every immigrant for the action of one.”
“Placing collective guilt on an entire group — half of the world — for the act of one person is contrary to American principles of justice, not to mention Catholic moral teaching,” he said.
Catholic social teaching on immigration balances three interrelated principles — the right of persons to migrate in order to sustain their lives and those of their families, the right of a country to regulate its borders and control immigration, and a nation’s duty to regulate its borders with justice and mercy.
Bishops offer prayers for National Guard members shot
Catholic bishops are offering prayers following the shooting of two West Virginia National Guard members in the nation’s capital Nov. 26.
The midafternoon attack, believed to be perpetrated by a lone suspect now in custody, killed 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, who succumbed to her injuries in the hospital Nov. 27, and left 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe in critical condition.
Authorities have named the suspect as Lakanwal. The Afghan national had previously worked with the U.S. government in Afghanistan.
Lakanwal had been permitted to enter the U.S. in 2021 on the basis of that work, which ended after the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan that same year, CIA director John Ratcliffe told CBS News.
“We are praying for the healing of the injured National Guard members and will continue to monitor the situation,” Chieko Noguchi, spokesperson for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said.
In a Nov. 27 post on X, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, also called for prayer for the wounded National Guard members, adding, “This latest act of political violence is deeply troubling and should call our minds and hearts to our need for God and His saving grace.”
In August, President Trump federalized more than 2,000 National Guard troops, deploying them to the nation’s capital to combat crime, despite protests from Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. A federal judge in Washington temporarily blocked the deployment Nov. 20.
“Now is the time for fervent prayer for these National Guardsmen and for peace in our nation this Thanksgiving and always,” said Bishop Burbidge.
