President Donald Trump has boosted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s hard-line call for a sweeping new travel ban, sharing her message on his Truth Social account as the administration leans further into a crackdown on immigration after a deadly shooting in Washington, D.C.
A screenshot of Trump’s Truth Social feed shows Noem’s statement prominently embedded under his profile, indicating that he shared the post without additional commentary – effectively amplifying and endorsing her proposal.
Noem’s fiery message after DC attack
In her post, issued from her official account after meeting Trump, Noem said she was recommending “a full travel ban on every damn country” that she claims has been “flooding” the United States with violent offenders and people abusing public benefits. She described such migrants with highly charged language, including calling them “killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies,” and ended the statement with the declaration that Americans “don’t want them – not one.”
Noem’s comments came in direct response to a Thanksgiving-week shooting near the White House, in which two National Guard members were attacked. The suspect, 29-year-old Afghan national Rahman(d)ullah Lakanwal, is accused of killing 20-year-old Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and wounding 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe. According to officials, Lakanwal entered the U.S. under the Biden-era Operation Allies Welcome program for Afghan evacuees.
Noem has argued that the case shows earlier vetting failures and says the U.S. is being “flooded” with dangerous migrants from specific countries.
Trump’s broader immigration push
Noem’s message dovetails with Trump’s own recent promises to dramatically roll back immigration. In a separate statement last week, Trump vowed to “permanently pause” migration from all “Third World countries,” cancel what he calls “Biden illegal admissions” and move to expel non-citizens he deems not a “net asset” to the United States.
He has also ordered immigration officials to conduct a fresh “rigorous re-examination” of all green-card holders from 19 “countries of concern,” building on a June proclamation that already restricts entry from a list of 12 countries – including Afghanistan, Myanmar, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen – and partially from seven others such as Cuba, Laos, Togo and Venezuela.
Taken together, the new review of permanent residents, the freeze on asylum decisions and Noem’s call for an expanded travel ban suggest a major escalation of Trump’s second-term immigration agenda, which critics say is designed to drastically shrink both legal and irregular migration to the U.S.
How far could a new ban go?
So far, neither the White House nor the Department of Homeland Security has published a list of countries that might be covered by the new “full travel ban” Noem is urging. A DHS spokesperson has said only that such a list will be announced “soon.”
Any new round of restrictions would build on Trump’s earlier travel bans from his first term, which were repeatedly challenged in court before a narrowed version was ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court as within presidential authority over immigration and national security.
However, some of Trump’s latest pledges – including mass “denaturalisation” of migrants and the removal of anyone judged “non-compatible with Western civilisation” – go further than prior policies and would almost certainly trigger new legal battles over due process, civil rights and the limits of executive power.
Backlash over ‘dehumanising’ language
Noem’s rhetoric has drawn sharp criticism from immigrant-rights advocates, legal scholars and some civil-rights groups. One immigration lawyer told The Guardian that her wording is “virtually indistinguishable” from language used on extremist neo-Nazi forums, pointing to phrases like “leeches” and “foreign invaders” as examples of dehumanising speech historically used to justify violence. The Guardian
Advocacy organizations say the combination of harsh language and sweeping policy proposals risks treating entire nationalities as security threats and could undermine U.S. obligations under domestic and international asylum law. A coalition based in Florida warned that the administration’s moves to halt asylum processing and clamp down on migration from developing countries would “endanger vulnerable families fleeing violence and persecution” and destabilise poorer nations that rely on legal migration channels.
High-stakes political fight ahead
For Trump and his allies, the Noem post and its amplification on Truth Social are part of a broader strategy to make immigration – and particularly security fears tied to high-profile crimes – the centerpiece of their message heading into 2026. They argue that aggressive bans, deportations and vetting reviews are needed to protect Americans and restore control at the border.
Opponents counter that the administration is using a tragic crime in Washington to justify extreme, likely unconstitutional measures that punish millions of law-abiding immigrants and refugees. With Trump now openly sharing and elevating Noem’s call for a “full travel ban,” the clash over how far the U.S. can – and should – go in restricting immigration is set to intensify in Congress, the courts and the 2026 political arena.
