Amid US President Donald Trump pledging to ‘permanently pause’ migration from ‘all Third World Countries’ after shooting near White House, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday said that they are working to cut off federal benefits to illegal aliens.
“At trump’s direction, we are working to cut off federal benefits to illegal aliens and preserve them for US citizens,” reported Reuters quoting Bessent.
The development comes as two National Guards were shot by an Afghan national in Washington DC on Wednesday, killing one of them.
Earlier on Thursday, Trump said he would suspend migration from what he called ‘third world countries and also threatened to reverse ‘millions’ of admissions granted under his predecessor Joe Biden, marked a new escalation in the anti-migration stance.
“I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the US system to fully recover,” Trump wrote on social media.
He linked the shooting and his decision to send hundreds of National Guard troops to the city.
“If they weren’t effective, you probably wouldn’t have had this done,” Trump said. “Maybe this man was upset because he couldn’t practice crime.”
The FBI has launched an international terror investigation as new details emerged about the alleged gunman Rahmanullah Lakanwal (29), an Afghan national, who entered the US in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, opened fire without provocation, ambush style, armed with a 357 Smith and Wesson revolver.