On a Wednesday afternoon near the White House, gunfire shattered what seemed like an ordinary Thanksgiving patrol. Two National Guard members—one barely into adulthood, the other just beginning his military service—were caught in the crossfire. By evening, one lay dead. By Thanksgiving night, the nation’s immigration policy had shifted dramatically, reshaping the lives of millions based on a single violent act.
The Soldiers Who Answered the Call
Sarah Beckstrom was 20 years old when she died on Thanksgiving morning. The Army Specialist from Summersville, West Virginia, had enlisted just days before her deployment to Washington as part of a federal initiative to station military personnel in the capital. Initially anxious about the assignment, she had grown to embrace it, sending photographs of the monuments to friends back home. Before enlisting, Sarah had worked at a community health center, where colleagues remembered her as someone genuinely committed to helping vulnerable populations struggling with addiction and mental illness. She wasn’t seeking advancement or recognition—she was a young woman with a calling to serve.
Andrew Wolfe, 24, from Martinsburg, West Virginia, had joined the National Guard in February 2019 and served with the Air Force’s 167th Airlift Wing. Friends described him as deeply faithful and generous, the kind of person who would give away his own possessions to help others. On Thanksgiving, he fought for his life in a hospital bed while the nation debated the circumstances that had placed him there.
The Shooter’s Journey to America
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, arrived in the United States with credentials that initially made sense. He had worked with CIA-backed special forces in Kandahar during the war in Afghanistan, assisting American military operations. When the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, he faced potential retaliation. The Biden administration created Operation Allies Welcome to bring such Afghans to safety—a program designed to honor those who had risked their lives alongside American forces.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, screening involved biometric and biographic checks along with extensive background reviews. Over 73,000 Afghans entered through the program between July 2021 and March 2022. By most accounts, the vetting process was rigorous. Yet something failed with Lakanwal—whether a gap in the system or simply the reality that no screening catches everything. He developed severe PTSD and struggled. On Wednesday afternoon, he allegedly opened fire on two young soldiers who had volunteered to work on a national holiday.
The Swift Policy Response
President Trump’s response came within hours. By Thanksgiving night, his Truth Social account carried a detailed immigration manifesto. He promised to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries” without defining which nations qualified or how the government would determine that classification. He vowed to “terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions” and remove anyone deemed “not a net asset to the United States.” He pledged to end all federal benefits for noncitizens and denaturalize migrants who “undermine domestic tranquility.”
The language was striking in its vagueness. Who decides if someone is a net asset? What does compatibility with Western civilization mean? U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow announced a “full-scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card,” leaving millions with previously secure legal status suddenly uncertain about their future.
Numbers, Context, and Incomplete Pictures
Trump cited recent census data showing 53.3 million foreign-born residents in the U.S. as of January 2025, the highest number ever recorded. The statistic is accurate but incomplete. By June 2025, that figure had actually dropped to 51.9 million—the first shrinkage in the immigrant population since the 1960s, according to Pew Research. The foreign-born population had already begun declining before Trump took office.
Trump also claimed that social dysfunction “did not exist post-World War II,” a statement historians would dispute. The 1960s witnessed massive urban riots, the 1970s saw significant crime waves, and the 1980s experienced the crack epidemic. Yet facts rarely compete with feelings, especially when people seek explanations and someone offers them with conviction.
Targeting Communities and Reviving Old Claims
Trump’s Thanksgiving posts singled out Somali immigrants in Minnesota with inflammatory language. He claimed “gangs of Somalians roving the streets” and “hundreds of thousands” taking over the state. Minnesota’s actual Somali population is approximately 61,000 as of 2023—significant and visible, but vastly smaller than suggested. Many Somali Minnesotans fled the same violence that shaped Lakanwal’s experience, arriving as refugees from civil war with roots in the Twin Cities dating back decades.
Trump renewed allegations that Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, born in Somalia, had entered the U.S. illegally by marrying her brother—a claim circulating since 2016 with no verified evidence. Omar came as a child refugee in 1995, spent time in a Kenyan refugee camp, and became a U.S. citizen in 2000. Fact-checkers have repeatedly found no substantiation for the marriage-fraud allegations.
Governor Tim Walz recognized the pattern. “It’s not surprising that the President has chosen to broadly target an entire community,” he said. “This is what he does to change the subject.” The shooter was Afghan, not Somali. Trump had leveraged a tragedy to attack people unconnected to it.
The Broader Impact
On Friday, the Trump administration announced a complete halt to all asylum decisions pending “a comprehensive review of security and vetting procedures.” The State Department froze all visa issuance for Afghan nationals. The 19 nations on the list for Green Card reexamination include Afghanistan, Chad, Yemen, Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, Iran, and Myanmar. People who believed their legal status was secure suddenly faced uncertainty.
Trump’s posts suggested migrants receive far more in federal benefits than they earn, citing an example of someone earning $30,000 annually while receiving $50,000 in yearly benefits. A 2024 Cato Institute study found that immigrants consumed an average of $5,993 in welfare benefits in 2020—approximately 20.6% less than native-born Americans, who averaged $7,544.
The Moment Ahead
The shooting near the White House was a tragedy involving two young Americans wounded or killed by an Afghan national who had come under a refugee program honoring those who helped the U.S. military. President Trump transformed that moment into a mandate for sweeping change. Whether that change survives legal challenge, how it will be implemented, and what its ultimate scope will be remain unanswered questions—the kind that matter when rhetoric becomes law.
Sources
CNN/Reuters/BBC News – National Guard shooting coverage (November 27–28, 2025)
Trump Truth Social Posts – Immigration manifesto (November 27–28, 2025)
Pew Research Center – Foreign-born population decline analysis (August 2025)
U.S. Census Bureau – Foreign-born population statistics (January 2025)
Cato Institute – “Immigrant and Native Consumption of Means-Tested Benefits” study (October 2024)
Department of Homeland Security / U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services – Operation Allies Welcome and vetting procedures