President Donald Trump started his Thanksgiving Day at his West Palm Beach-area golf club.
A White House official told the traveling press pool that Trump arrived at the golf club at 9:47 a.m. Trump owns two Palm Beach County golf clubs, but almost always plays at Trump International during his visits.
The president has not further commented on the Nov. 26 shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C. Trump issued a videotaped statement that evening calling the attack “monstrous” and “a crime against our entire nation” and doubling down on vows to expel, potentially, millions of foreign people form the United States.
The president confirmed the suspected assailant is an Afghani man who entered the United States during the 2021 withdrawal of U.S. forces from that wartorn country during the Biden administration. Trump excoriated former President Joe Biden’s immigration policy as a whole saying it presents the “single greatest national security threat” to the United States.
Trump also seethed at Somali people living in Minnesota and raged at Biden for, he said, allowing 20 million “unvetted” people to enter the United States. He said he had ordered a review of “every single alien” who entered the United States during the Biden term.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an Afghan national from Washington state, has reportedly been identified as the suspect in the shooting, according to Reuters.
Lakanwal gained entry into the country through “Operation Allies Welcome,” a special visa program originally setup to evacuate vulnerable Afghans, and their families, who had cooperated with U.S. forces during the war as the Taliban took back control during the U.S. withdrawal.
USA TODAY reported that at the time there was immense pressure from lawmakers in both parties to act swiftly due to fear Afghans who served alongside American troops would be killed. This led for the Biden administration to fast-track the process compared to previous refugee initiatives.
But the shooting, which has critically injured the two West Virginia guard members, identified as Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, has reopened a debate about the program, including previous warnings in Department of Homeland Security reports that outlined how the Biden administration failed to track Afghan evacuees.
The DHS inspector general’s report found that some had left military bases in the U.S. that were designated as “safe havens” without officials’ knowledge. That’s because a tracking system was not designed to account for departures. Other data quality issues included contact information for the evacuees.
Lakanwal, according to reports, overstayed his visa and has been living in the U.S. illegally.
“We’re not going to put up with these kinds of assaults on law and order by people who shouldn’t even be in our country,” Trump said. “We must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country.”
The president said he also ordered another 500 troops to patrol the nation’s capitol.
Trump immigration policies have drawn pushback
The president’s immigration crackdown, and pledges to conduct the largest mass deportation program in U.S. history, has elicited broad push back from within and without the United States.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this month issued a statement calling on the administration to exert judiciousness in pursuit of their policies. The bishops said they recognized that “nations have a responsibility to regulate their borders and establish a just and orderly immigration system” but were nonetheless saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants.”
“We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people,” the statement said. “We pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement.”
Exit polls and other surveys from voters before and after a spate of state and local elections across the United States on Nov. 4 elections showed voters favoring Democratic candidates in part because they viewed the Trump administration’s policies as excessive.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump in Florida: President’s video ups the immigration crackdown
Reporting by Antonio Fins, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
