Trump has announced the “Reverse Migration Plan,” declaring its goal is “to completely eliminate the illegal and unwanted population coming from Third World countries”

President Donald J. Trump unveiled what he called the “Reverse Migration Plan,” a sweeping and immediate overhaul of U.S. immigration policy designed to “permanently end the refugee burden and illegal alien invasion that has overwhelmed our country.”

The announcement, made just 24 hours after an Afghan national shot and killed a 20-year-old National Guard member and critically wounded another near the White House, declares an indefinite nationwide halt to all immigration processing from what Trump described as “Third World countries.” The president explicitly singled out Afghanistan for an immediate and total freeze, but sources inside the Department of Homeland Security confirm the policy guidance is already being drafted to extend the pause to at least 19 “high-risk” nations previously covered under a June 2025 partial travel ban.

“Effective immediately, we are stopping ALL immigration from Third World Countries until our system fully recovers,” Trump wrote. “We will also begin the process of revoking millions of entries signed by Sleepy Joe Biden – many with his infamous Autopen – including refugees, parolees, and so-called ‘asylum’ recipients who never should have been allowed in.”

The plan’s core pillars, as outlined by the president:

1. Indefinite suspension of refugee resettlement, humanitarian parole, and most visa categories from designated countries.
2. Full revocation and re-examination of approximately 235,000 green cards and hundreds of thousands of asylum grants issued between 2021 and 2025.
3. Mass deportation priority for any foreign national deemed a “public charge,” national security risk, or “non-compatible with Western Civilization.”
4. Permanent reinstatement of strict “public charge” rules and an end to virtually all federal benefits for non-citizens.
5. Aggressive denaturalization proceedings against naturalized citizens who “undermine domestic tranquility.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed late Thursday that USCIS has already halted all Afghan case processing nationwide and that ICE and CBP have been directed to prepare “expedited removal operations” targeting individuals who entered under Biden-era programs such as Operation Allies Welcome and the controversial CHNV parole pipeline for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.

The timing of the announcement appears directly tied to Wednesday’s deadly shooting. The suspect, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the United States in September 2021 on humanitarian parole after the fall of Kabul and was granted asylum earlier this year. Trump repeatedly blamed “catastrophically weak Biden vetting” for the tragedy and declared the attack “would never have happened under my watch.”

Reaction was immediate and polarized. Trump supporters flooded social media with celebration, with posts such as “Largest reverse migration in history starts NOW” and “Thank God the adults are back in charge” racking up tens of thousands of reposts within hours. Conversely, immigrant-rights organizations condemned the move as “cruel and likely illegal,” vowing swift legal action. The ACLU issued a statement saying it is “preparing multiple emergency lawsuits” challenging the plan’s constitutionality and potential violations of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act.

On Capitol Hill, House Speaker Mike Johnson praised the president, saying, “This is exactly why the American people gave Republicans unified control of government.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the announcement “un-American” and warned of “global humiliation” if the U.S. reneges on refugee commitments.

International response has also been swift. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees expressed “grave concern,” while several European nations privately signaled they may accept fewer U.S.-referred resettlement cases in retaliation.

As of midnight Eastern Time, long lines were already forming outside immigration courts and federal buildings in cities with large diaspora communities, with many legal residents frantically seeking counsel about whether their status could be stripped.

With ICE already operating at peak capacity under Trump’s ongoing mass-deportation operation, administration officials admit the new “reverse migration” initiative could ultimately affect several million individuals and cost upwards of $150 billion – a price the president insists is “worth every penny to take our country back.”

The White House has scheduled a primetime Oval Office address for Friday evening to elaborate on the plan. Until then, America awakens to what many are already calling the most dramatic immigration pivot in modern history.