Trump wants to not only bar persons from certain countries but to remove people from certain countries, even from the entire “third world,” who are legally in the United States.
The White House rhetoric and some technical steps undertaken on November 27 indicate that the administration aims to violate a key provision in law (the Immigration and Naturalization Act) barring nationality-based discrimination Let’s look at Trump’s actions starting in his first administration.
Baseline: how the law reads
“Except as specifically provided in this Act, no person shall… be discriminated against in the issuance of an immigrant visa because of the person’s race, sex, nationality, place of birth, or place of residence.” INA § 202(a)(1)(A) (8 U.S.C. § 1152(a)(1)(A)) Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1952 (The McCarran–Walter Act, as amended in1965).
The 2017 “Muslim ban”
The ban on entry from certain countries was initially issued in January 2017. The Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of country-wide bans for entry in 2018. (Go here and here).
Trump’s 2024 campaign rhetoric: attack in principle on countries
Trump’s nationality-focused approach was evident in his 2024 campaign speeches – using terms such as “poisoning” and animals (found here).
“They’re poisoning the blood of our country. That’s what they’ve done. They poison — mental institutions and prisons all over the world. Not just in South America. Not just the three or four countries that we think about. But all over the world they’re coming into our country — from Africa, from Asia, all over the world. They’re pouring into our country.” — Dec. 16, 2023, New Hampshire rally
“They’re rough people, in many cases from jails, prisons, from mental institutions, insane asylums. You know, insane asylums — that’s ‘Silence of the Lambs’ stuff.” — March 4, 2024, interview with Right Side Broadcasting Network
“The Democrats say, ‘Please don’t call them animals. They’re humans.’ I said, ‘No, they’re not humans, they’re not humans, they’re animals’ … Nancy Pelosi told me that. She said, ‘Please don’t use the word animals when you’re talking about these people.’ I said, ‘I’ll use the word animal because that’s what they are.’” — April 2, 2024, Grand Rapids, Michigan, campaign event.
(Collected by the ACLU here)
Trump’s June 6, 2025 list of countries
On June 6, 2025, Trump singled out 19 countries banning or restricting new entries. : Fully banned (12 countries): Afghanistan; Myanmar (Burma); Chad; Republic of the Congo; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Haiti; Iran; Libya; Somalia; Sudan; Yemen. Partially restricted (7 countries): Burundi; Cuba; Laos; Sierra Leone; Togo; Turkmenistan; Venezuela
The common rationale was that the country government was not trustworthy in dealing with the United States on immigration matters. The halt was not explained in terms of criminals, mis-fits.etc.
November 27/28, 2025: wholesale attack on all migration from third world countries, including cancelling green cards
Trump on X: “I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden’s Autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country, end all Federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens of our Country, denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.”
Trump on Truth Social. “I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover,” he wrote on Truth Social…..Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation.” (Go here.)
Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, wrote on social media that he had been directed to conduct “a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern.” (press report here.)
November 27, 2025 higher denial rates based on country of origin
USCIS issued instructions to staff adversely take into account the person’s country of origin for any step in the process of entry and stay, green card issuance, etc. It does not affect assessment of an application for citizenship.