President Donald Trump said Sunday his administration plans to keep a pause on asylum decisions “for a long time,” following the shooting of two National Guard members near the White House by an Afghan national who left one soldier dead.

Trump, asked how long the halt could last, said he had “no time limit” in mind. The Department of Homeland Security said the pause is tied to a list of 19 countries already under U.S. travel restrictions.

“We don’t want those people,” Trump said. “You know why we don’t want them? Because many have been no good, and they shouldn’t be in our country.”

Shooting prompts immediate policy response

The administration imposed the pause after the Nov. 26 attack in Washington that killed 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom and critically wounded another guardsman.

Authorities arrested 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national, and charged him with first-degree murder.

Questions over vetting

Lakanwal served in a CIA-backed partner force fighting the Taliban and arrived in the United States through a resettlement program following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

He was granted asylum in April 2025 under the Trump administration, though officials blamed what they called lax vetting by former President Joe Biden’s administration during the Afghan airlift for allowing him entry.

After the shooting, Trump said he intended to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover.”

Nineteen countries affected

Asked which nationalities fall under the policy, DHS pointed to the 19 countries, including Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, and Myanmar, that have been under travel restrictions since June.