Kristi Noem’s call comes in the wake of last week’s attack on National Guard members by an asylum seeker in Washington, DC
The US needs a sweeping travel ban on countries “flooding” America with criminal migrants, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said.
The call comes after an Afghan asylum seeker was identified as the suspect in last week’s shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, DC. In response, the US has suspended all visa processing for Afghan passport holders.
Posting on X on Tuesday, Noem said she had met with President Donald Trump and is “recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.”
She argued the US was not built “for foreign invaders” to “slaughter our heroes” or drain taxpayers. “We don’t want them. Not one,” the official wrote, without specifying which countries would be banned. Trump later shared Noem’s post on Truth Social.
I just met with the President. I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies. Our forefathers built this nation on blood, sweat, and the unyielding love of freedom—not for foreign…
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) December 1, 2025
The Department of Homeland Security has identified the suspect in custody as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who entered under a special program launched in 2021 to evacuate vulnerable Afghans after the Taliban retook power. He is facing first-degree murder charges since Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, one of two West Virginia National Guard members shot in the attack, died from her wounds on Thanksgiving Day. Her colleague, Andrew Woolfe, remains critically injured and is still fighting for his life.
Trump blamed his predecessor Joe Biden for allowing Lakanwal into the US and vowed to “permanently pause migration” from certain countries, adding that immigrants from 19 nations will have their cases re-examined, including those from Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, Haiti, Sudan, Yemen, Libya, and Venezuela.
Trump has long called for an overhaul of US asylum regulations as part of a broader immigration crackdown and his stated goal of combating extremism. Since returning to office for his second term, he has vowed to carry out “the largest deportation” of illegals in US history while also purging federal agencies of “woke” practices.
In October, the White House slashed the annual refugee admissions cap to 7,500 – the lowest level on record.
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