PrintDecember 5, 2025
Ban those who can’t be vetted
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Recently, two members of the West Virginia National Guard were ambushed and shot by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who was allowed into the United States under a Biden-era program known as “Operation Allies Welcome.”
In the wake of this attack, President Trump announced his intention to limit immigration from ‘third world’ countries.
Quite predictably, this announcement has triggered mainstream media talking heads, and other members of the chattering classes. Critics have argued that such policies would be “discriminatory” – primarily because the developing world is full of “brown and black” people (their words, not mine). Cue Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” and footage of large blonde men marching in big black boots.
But concerns about third world migration have absolutely nothing to do with race or ethnicity. They are much more practical: It is virtually impossible to perform any kind of useful vetting on aliens from countries in places like Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Middle East.
Anti-borders advocates would have you believe otherwise. During a Sept. 1, 2021 press conference, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told the American public, “I can absolutely assure you that no one is coming into the United States of America who has not been through a thorough screening and background check process.”
However, Ms. Psaki was deliberately deceiving her audience.
Vetting is simply a fancy word for “background check.” But, the target of a background investigation must have a traceable history. In other words, he or she must have engaged in transactions that generate records. By looking at school registrations, real estate records, department of motor vehicle files, credit histories, etc., an investigator can substantiate an individual’s identity and determine whether he or she is a person of good moral character.
However, that is only possible when a person being vetted comes from a society that keeps such records and is willing to share them with the United States. According to a Gallup World Poll survey conducted in 2018, more than 750 million people around the world would migrate if they could. And their preferred destination is the United States.
Most of those people come from countries that either lack functioning record-keeping systems or refuse to share information with the United States, which means there is no reliable way to determine whether those individuals pose a threat to America’s national security or public safety.
Nevertheless, over the last three decades, our political and societal elites have permitted aliens from violent, unstable regions to enter the United States, with minimal background checks. Time and time again, this has proven to be a disastrous choice:
- On May 1, 2010, Faisal Shahzad – a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan – attempted to detonate a car bomb in New York’s Times Square.
- On Dec. 25, 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab – a Nigerian who traveled to the U.S. on a tourist visa – attempted to detonate a bomb sewn into his underwear on Northwest Airlines Flight 253. Miraculously, only Abdulmutallab was killed.
- On April 15, 2013, Tamerlan and Dzhokar Tsarnaev – both Chechen asylum recipients - placed improvised explosive devices at the Boston Marathon finish line, killing three people and injuring hundreds.
- On Dec. 2, 2015, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik – migrants from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, respectively – attacked a San Bernardino County Department of Public Health Christmas party, killing fourteen and injuring twenty-two others.
- On May 19, 2016, Ratko and Divna Maslenjak – Bosnian war criminals – were ordered removed from the United States by an Immigration Judge, after being convicted of lying to immigration officials about their participation in crimes against humanity during the Balkan wars.
- On Oct. 31, 2017, Sayfullo Habivullaevic Saipov – an Uzbek who entered the U.S. on a diversity visa – drove a pickup truck into cyclists and runners in New York City, killing eight and injuring thirteen others.
- On Feb. 2, 2022 – Cuxum Alvarado – a Guatemalan who had been convicted of crimes against humanity in the 1980s – was arrested and removed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
- On Oct. 16, 2024, Jugoslav Vidic – a Croatian war criminal who entered the U.S. under false pretenses and obtained a green card by fraud – was sentenced to three years in prison.
The aforementioned have one thing in common: they hail from countries that either lack record keeping systems or will not share information with the United States. U.S. authorities had virtually no chance of detecting their involvement in terrorism and crimes against humanity.
And, as a result, foreigners who presented a clear and present danger to U.S. citizens were permitted to walk America’s streets. Rahmanullah Lakanwal is only the latest, tragic reminder of just how important good vetting is.
It is time to stop pretending that we can properly vet migrants from the developing world and acknowledge that the only way we can protect our citizens and our way of life from terrorists and from criminal cartels is to shut the door – at least for awhile.
President Trump's alleged “ban” on “third world” migration is well within the limits of 8 U.S.C. § 1182(f) which states:
Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.
In addition, it sends a clear message to other countries that the U.S. is now prioritizing the national security and public safety of America’s citizens – not the migration desires of aliens with sketchy pasts.
Dr. Matt O’Brien is the deputy executive director at the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). Matt has 30 years of experience in immigration law and policy. Immediately prior to joining FAIR, he was the Assistant Chief Immigration Judge, overseeing the U.S. Immigration Court at Annandale, Va.
Image: government identification photo, via X // public domain
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