Trump Says There Will Be No Asylum From Certain Countries for ‘A Long Time’

President Donald Trump said that a recent pause on immigration from some countries would be for “a long time,” adding he would also try to denaturalize some people if he had the power to do so.

“We have criminals that came into our country and they were naturalized maybe through [President Joe] Biden or somebody that didn’t know what they were doing,” Trump said on Nov. 30 in response to a reporter’s question on Air Force One.

“If I have the power to do it, I’m not sure that I do, but if I do, I would denaturalize, absolutely.”

Responding to a separate question about how long he would enact a pause on asylum from certain countries, the president said that his administration would suspend immigration for “a long time” and there would be “no time limit.”

“We don’t want those people. Does that make sense? You know why we don’t want them? Because many have been no good and they shouldn’t be in our country,” Trump said.

Last week, Trump said that he would suspend immigration from what he called “third world countries” after an Afghan national who was granted asylum in the United States allegedly opened fire on two National Guard soldiers in Washington.

Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, were shot on Nov. 26. Beckstrom died the following day. Wolfe remains in critical condition.

In the post on Truth Social, Trump also said that he wants certain immigrants to leave the United States, writing: “Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation.”

Joseph Edlow, the head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), wrote in a Nov. 28 post on X that his agency would be pausing decisions around asylum claims until a vetting process is done.

“USCIS has halted all asylum decisions until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible,” he wrote. “The safety of the American people always comes first.

The Trump administration has ended or has scheduled an end to Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for a number of countries, including Afghanistan, Haiti, Venezuela, Cameroon, South Sudan, and several others. About a week ago, a notice published in the Federal Register by the Department of Homeland Security said that Haiti’s TPS would end in February, while officials advised nationals from that country to self-deport.

Trump and other officials have not named the countries that will be impacted by the pause. A White House proclamation issued in June imposed a travel ban or a partial ban on roughly 15 countries of concern due to the threat of terrorism and national security threats.

They include Afghanistan, the Republic of Congo, Burma, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Cuba, Burundi, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Venezuela, and Turkmenistan.

The Department of Homeland Security said the suspect in the Washington shooting, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was admitted into the United States under a program that was set up after Afghanistan was recaptured by the Taliban in 2021, after 20 years of war.

FBI Director Kash Patel said last week the shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism, while U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said that Lakanwal will face murder charges after one of the Guard soldiers was confirmed to have died.

Lakanwal, who had worked with the CIA during the war in Afghanistan, faces a charge of first-degree murder, two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, and three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, Pirro said.

“There are certainly many more charges to come, but we are upgrading the initial charges of assault to murder in the first degree,” Pirro told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” program.