Donald Trump talks to reporters from the Resolute Desk after signing an executive order on January 30, 2025 in Washington, D.C. In a new social media post, Donald Trump hinted that he might enact policies to stop nearly all legal immigration to the United States. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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In a new social media post, Donald Trump hinted that he might stop nearly all legal immigration to the United States. The post came after an Afghan national killed a National Guard member in Washington, D.C. during an attack. In 2020, during Trump’s first term, the president suspended the entry of nearly all immigrants and temporary visa holders, citing the economic conditions created by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Trump’s Social Media Post Criticizing Immigration
In a Truth Social post on Thanksgiving evening, Donald Trump wrote, “Even as we have progressed technologically, Immigration Policy has eroded those gains and living conditions for many. I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden’s Autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country, end all Federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens of our Country, denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.” (Emphasis added.)
He added, “These goals will be pursued with the aim of achieving a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations, including those admitted through an unauthorized and illegal Autopen approval process. Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation.”
The details, such as the official Census number of 53 million, the term “public charge” and the reference to post-World War 2 conditions in America, indicate to analysts that Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller may have drafted or assisted on the post to carry out a new policy objective—a permanent pause on immigration. Miller has credited the 1924 Immigration Act, which ended almost all immigration to the United States from most countries, for America’s conditions after World War 2. Economists dispute that the 1924 Immigration Act helped the United States economically. Historians note the law prevented many Jews from finding safe refuge from fascist regimes in Europe in the 1930s.
In April 2020, Donald Trump used section 212(f) of the U.S. immigration code to issue a proclamation suspending the entry of all categories of immigrants to the United States except for the spouses and children of U.S. citizens. In June 2020, Trump followed up with a proclamation suspending the entry of H-1B, L-1 and other temporary visa holders. Litigation had some success against the June 2020 proclamation, but limited processing due to Covid-19 muted the impact of court rulings.
Earlier in his first term, the Supreme Court upheld the third iteration of the “Muslim ban” that blocked the entry of immigrants and temporary visa holders from seven countries.
On June 4, 2025, Donald Trump issued a proclamation banning the entry of persons issued immigrant visas at a consulate (but who are not yet lawful permanent residents) and the entry of persons with temporary visas from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Haiti and Somalia. The proclamation also bans the entry of persons issued immigrant visas and limits the entry ban on temporary (nonimmigrant) visas to tourists, business travelers, students and exchange visitors for an additional seven countries, including Cuba, Laos and Venezuela.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller speaks to press outside of the White House on April 14, 2025. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
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The Economic Fallout Of New Immigration Restrictions
The Truth Social post may foreshadow a new proclamation blocking the immigration of people from many more countries. That could carry significant economic ramifications since the Trump administration’s policies have already reduced the number of foreign-born workers in the United States by approximately one million since January 2025.
According to a National Foundation for American Policy analysis, “The Trump administration’s policies on illegal and legal immigration would reduce the projected number of workers in the United States by 6.8 million by 2028 and by 15.7 million by 2035 and lower the annual rate of economic growth by almost one-third, harming U.S. living standards.”
The analysis notes that labor force and productivity growth determine U.S. economic growth, which is crucial to achieve higher standards. “Immigrants play key roles in the growth of the labor force and productivity growth,” according to the report. “In sum, it is difficult to achieve higher levels of economic growth, also known as GDP or Gross Domestic Product Growth, without a growing supply of labor.”
The analysis does not detail the financial, emotional or other costs to Americans of being unable to sponsor close family members or to individual U.S. business owners unable to find or retain employees. The analysis also does not include the likely significant economic impact of restricting U.S. companies’ access to high-skilled foreign nationals through regulatory actions on H-1B visas, which could affect productivity growth. According to economists Giovanni Peri, Kevin Shih and Chad Sparber, “When we aggregate at the national level, inflows of foreign STEM workers explain between 30% and 50% of the aggregate productivity growth that took place in the United States between 1990 and 2010.”
Of the 6.8 million fewer projected workers in the U.S. labor force in 2028, 2.8 million would be due to changes in legal immigration policies, according to the analysis. The projection may have underestimated the impact of the policies if the administration takes more restrictive measures than previously anticipated.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced policies expected to prevent many individuals already in the United States from gaining or retaining permanent residence.
After the shooting of two National Guard service members by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who fought for a CIA-backed unit in Afghanistan, USCIS “issued new guidance allowing for negative, country-specific factors to be considered when vetting aliens” from the 19 countries on the earlier travel ban proclamation. The agency suspended all immigration applications for Afghans in the United States. USCIS also announced it would reinterview or at least review all individuals granted asylum or refugee status during the Biden administration.
These measures may slow down processing for other applications by diverting resources. A DHS public charge rule would make it much easier for consular officers and DHS personnel to deny the applications of individuals attempting to immigrate to join U.S. citizen family members.
In an editorial, The Wall Street Journal rejected the idea of “collective punishment” of Afghans due to “this single act of betrayal” by Rahmanullah Lakanwal. However, Trump’s social media post indicates potential “collective punishment” of not only Afghans, but of all immigrants from “Third World” countries and the Americans who want to sponsor them. “Mr. Lakanwal was granted asylum by the Trump administration this past April, according to three people with knowledge of the case,” reported the New York Times. According to the 2021-23 American Community Survey, the incarceration rate (in jails or prisons) for Afghans (18- to 50-year-old males) in the United States born in Afghanistan was only 0.02%, indicating criminal behavior by this group has been rare.
“The official United States Foreign population stands at 53 million people (Census), most of which are on welfare, from failed nations, or from prisons, mental institutions, gangs, or drug cartels,” Trump stated in his Truth Social Post. “This refugee burden is the leading cause of social dysfunction in America, something that did not exist after World War II (Failed schools, high crime, urban decay, overcrowded hospitals, housing shortages, and large deficits, etc.).”
Economists dispute these statements. The statements in the post appear similar to comments made by Stephen Miller, who argued that with fewer immigrants in Los Angeles the city would have less crowded schools and hospitals, among other things.
Economist Mark Regets found in a recent NFAP report that family immigrants have higher labor force participation rates than comparable U.S.-born individuals and, on average, only 1.6% received public assistance income in 2021-2023, which is less than the 1.7% for U.S born in the same age range. Haitians had a labor force participation rate of 90% (compared to 76.5% for U.S.-born individuals in the same age range) in 2021-23 and experienced earnings growth of 154% from 2009-11 to 2021-23.
George Mason University economics professor Michael Clemens found that an average recent immigrant without a high school degree has a lifetime positive net fiscal balance of $128,000. “Including the expected children and grandchildren of the average immigrant without a high school degree, the lifetime positive net fiscal effect is $326,000.”
New immigration policies may be coming. “The combination of the Trump administration’s policies on illegal and legal immigration would increase the total federal debt held by the public by $252 billion by 2028 (in 2025 dollars) and by $1.74 trillion (or $1.42 trillion in 2025 dollars) between 2025 and 2035,” according to the NFAP analysis. “The rise in debt does not include billions of dollars in increased federal spending on border and immigration enforcement.” It also does not include the significant reductions in legal immigration that Donald Trump may propose.