Trump’s immigration rhetoric intensifies after Afghan suspect arrested in US shooting

US President Donald Trump escalated his hardline stance on immigration after the arrest of 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the alleged gunman accused of fatally shooting West Virginia National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom.

Lakanwal, who reportedly entered the United States in 2021, is now in federal custody and under investigation by the FBI on potential terrorism charges.

Displaying an image of a plane crowded with evacuees — whom he repeatedly described as “immigrants” — Trump claimed that only the “toughest and meanest” individuals had entered the country, not those the US needed or chose.

He described the current immigration system as “total bedlam” and directly blamed his successor, President Joe Biden, for what he characterized as a national security failure.

“The suspect is an Afghan national flown here by the previous Administration… We have no greater national security priority than ensuring we have full control over the people who enter and remain in our country,” Trump declared. “For the most part, we don’t want them.”

The remarks come amid heightened political tension surrounding immigration policy, especially after US authorities temporarily paused new immigration requests from Afghans following the shooting.

In New York, mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani expressed grief over Beckstrom’s death in a statement reflecting a starkly different tone from Trump’s.

“I’m devastated to learn of the passing of Specialist Sarah Beckstrom,” Mamdani said. “She was only twenty years old. As families across the nation come together today to celebrate Thanksgiving, let us take a moment to think of those in West Virginia who have been plunged into unimaginable grief.”

With the investigation ongoing and political rhetoric intensifying, the incident has reignited polarising debates over border security, refugee screening, and the government’s responsibility toward evacuees from conflict regions.