Trump administration officials are becoming increasingly aggressive when it comes to curbing both legal and illegal immigration to the United States following the deadly attack on National Guard troops late last month by an Afghan national let into the country under President Joe Biden.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has stated that she will recommend a travel ban on several countries that she claims are contributing significantly to criminal activity in the U.S.
Noem said in a post on social media on Sunday that she had met with President Donald Trump and decided to suggest “a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.”
Trump and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shared Noem’s post on their official social media accounts. It is currently unclear which countries the proposed travel ban would affect or when it might be implemented. DHS informed the BBC that it would announce the list soon.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Monday evening that President Trump had already imposed a travel ban several months ago targeting what the administration described as “third world and failed state” countries. She said South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s new recommendations would broaden the policy to include additional nations.
On 4 June, the White House released a list of 19 countries — primarily in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean — that would be subject to full or partial immigration restrictions.
Noem’s proposed additions would bring the total to roughly 30 countries, according to multiple U.S. officials who spoke with CBS News, the BBC’s U.S. partner.
Before addressing the travel-ban proposal, Noem wrote on social media that roughly 100,000 Afghan nationals entered the United States through the Biden-era Operation Allies Welcome program, adding that the Department of Homeland Security planned to overhaul its vetting procedures.
Officials have identified the suspect in the Washington, D.C., shooting as an Afghan national who arrived in 2021 under the same program, which was created to resettle Afghans who had assisted U.S. forces during the country’s 20-year military presence in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, FBI Director Kash Patel criticized what he described as the Biden administration’s “emblematic failure” following the Nov. 26 shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., during an appearance on “The Ingraham Angle.”
On Tuesday, the Justice Department formally charged Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal with four counts, including murder.
“The problem with this case shows the emblematic failure of the Biden administration to vet anyone who came here from Afghanistan after the disastrous withdrawal,” Patel said.
One of the individuals affected, 24-year-old U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, is still recovering and in critical condition, while a fellow soldier from the West Virginia National Guard, 20-year-old U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, died from her wounds.
Lakanwal is currently hospitalized and under police custody, per the Justice Department. A judge from the D.C. Superior Court indicated that he will remain in detention without bail.
The developments arise as critics accuse the Biden administration of neglecting thorough vetting for Afghan refugees following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
According to Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General report from Sept. 6, 2022, “U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) did not always have critical data to properly screen, vet, or inspect the [Afghan] evacuees.”
Patel stated that the investigation into how Lakanwal was “radicalized” is still ongoing.
“This is a sprawling international terrorism investigation that the FBI is leading out on,” Patel said.
“I’ve already issued dozens of pieces of legal processes, dozens of devices, already hit two houses and interviewed many individuals associated with the subject, and that investigation is going to continue on to anyone and everyone this person ever spoke to,” Patel added. “We are not going to leave any stone unturned.”
Patel also vowed to vet “every single person that came in here — legally or illegally or otherwise — and make sure there is no derogatory or criminal information or terrorist ties.”
