Trump Freezes US Migration after DC Incident: List of Third-world Countries Affected So Far

President Donald Trump has stated he is to 'permanently pause migration from all Third World countries' following a Washington, DC shooting in which National Guard soldier Sarah Beckstrom died and an Afghan national was named as the main suspect.

According to officials quoted by US media, those 'countries of concern' are the same 19 states already covered by Trump's June 2025 travel ban and visa restrictions, not a brand-new list.

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Official Announcements In Line With The Statement

Shortly before Trump's 'Third World' announcement, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said it was immediately and indefinitely suspending all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals.

USCIS Director Joseph Edlow then added that, at the direction of the president, he had ordered a 'full-scale, rigorous re-examination' of every green card holder from 'countries of concern' linked to national-security risks.

Currently speaking, the only clearly defined new step so far is the halt on Afghan immigration cases and the review of green cards for nationals from those 19 countries. The broader 'Third World' pause is not yet a detailed legal order.

Which countries are already under bans or special review?

Under Trump's June 2025 travel ban, 12 countries are subject to a full ban on most visas:

• Afghanistan
• Chad
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Equatorial Guinea
• Eritrea
• Haiti
• Iran
• Libya
• Myanmar
• Somalia
• Sudan
• Yemen

A further seven countries face partial restrictions, allowing only certain temporary visas:

• Burundi
• Cuba
• Laos
• Sierra Leone
• Togo
• Turkmenistan
• Venezuela

These 19 countries are now also the focus of the new green card re-examination order, meaning existing permanent residents from these states could see their files scrutinised, though the government would still have to follow due-process rules to revoke status.

Trump has also frozen refugee admissions and imposed a historically low cap of 7,500 people for the 2026 fiscal year, while ordering a review of roughly 233,000 refugees admitted under Joe Biden.

What does 'Third World' mean – and who might be affected next?

One thing to note is that the term 'Third World', according to World Population Review, is not a legal category in US immigration law. It is an outdated Cold War term that originally referred to nations aligned with neither the US-led NATO bloc nor the Soviet Union, and it has since morphed into a vague, often derogatory shorthand for poorer or developing countries.

The United Nations instead uses technical labels such as 'least developed countries' (LDCs) – 44 economies that meet strict criteria on income, human assets and vulnerability. This list includes states like Afghanistan, Haiti, Yemen and Somalia, but not many other countries commonly lumped into the 'Third World' category.

Trump has not said whether his 'permanent pause' will track the June travel-ban list, the UN's LDC list, some broader group of 'Global South' nations, or a new classification of his own making. Until a formal proclamation is published, immigration lawyers say the phrase is political branding rather than a precise policy tool.

What does this mean for migrants, refugees and green card holders?

For now, the immediate impact is sharpest for Afghans, whose immigration requests have been frozen altogether, and for nationals of the 19 travel-ban countries, whose visas and green cards may now face tougher checks, delays and potential court battles.

Experts warn that family reunification will likely slow dramatically for people from those states, as spouses, children and parents abroad struggle to obtain visas. Human-rights groups also fear a chilling effect on migrant communities already in the US, who may worry about future reviews of their status even if they have done nothing wrong.

At the same time, the 'Third World' pause allows for permanent ban on millions of people, and would almost certainly trigger major constitutional and statutory challenges in US courts. Previous Trump-era travel bans were repeatedly litigated and partially struck down before being rewritten. Advocates expect the same pattern if this new pause is formalised.

For now, the policy remains in flux: Afghan cases are frozen, 19 countries are under heightened scrutiny, and the rest of the world is waiting to see how far Trump is willing to go with his statement.