Donald Trump 'permanently pauses' migrations after National Guard, 20, shot dead
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, News, Politics
Rhianna Benson
Featured Image Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, News, Politics
Donald Trump has paused all migration into the United States after a member of the National Guard was fatally shot in Washington DC earlier this week.
Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old specialist, was initially injured after a gunman opened fire on soldiers stationed near Farragut Metro at around 2.15pm on Wednesday 26 November.
Another guard, Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, reportedly remains in hospital, where the president claims he's 'fighting for his life'.
Trump's latest update also revealed that Beckstrom had died of the wound she sustained during the shootout.
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"She’s just passed away," the Republican leader wrote online. "She’s no longer with us. She’s looking down at us right now. Her parents are with her."
It was also Trump that first described the incident as a 'terrorist attack', after which the FBI confirmed that the suspect had been identified as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal.
Lakanwal had previously worked as a member of a special CIA-backed Afghan Army unit, prior to officially emigrating to the US from Afghanistan.
The father-of-five - whose asylum status was granted in April 2025 by the Trump administration, as per CNN - was shot at the scene before being rushed to hospital. His injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.
Meanwhile, Beckstrom's father, Gary previously told The New York Times that his daughter was likely to pass away as a result of her injuries.
"I’m holding her hand right now," he explained. "She has a mortal wound. It’s not going to be a recovery."
Footage circulating on social media in the hours after the incident showed emergency responders performing CPR on one member, whilst others tended to the glass sprayed all over the sidewalk.
Following the attack, 79-year-old Trump also took to Truth Social, where he vowed to 'permanently pause migration from all third world countries' into America, to allow the 'system to fully recover'.
The right-wing leader also confirmed that his administration would put an end to 'all federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens', as well as deport 'anyone who is not a net asset to the United States'.
How the politician plans to enact these pledges still remains unclear, given that they all require approval from Congress - a body which has pushed back on a number of Trump's more extreme 'bans' in the past.
Prosecutors say the attacker launched an 'ambush-style' attack on the National Guard earlier this week, using a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver.
Lakanwal has since being charged with three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, and one count of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.
Of those injured, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro previously claimed: "We are praying that they survive and that the highest charge will not have to be murder in the first degree.
"But make no mistake, if they do not, that will certainly be the charge."
She added that it's 'too soon to say' what Lakanwal's motives were.
Despite this, Trump wrote online in the aftermath: "This attack underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation. I am determined to ensure the animal who perpetrated this atrocity will pay the steepest possible price."
The president controversially deployed over 300 members of the West Virginia National Guard to DC back in August in a bid to tackle an allegedly out-of-control crime problem.