Trump wants to deport ‘Third World’ migrants; Which countries fall under it today? | EXPLAINER

US President Donald Trump has said he plans to suspend migration from what he called “third-world countries”, one day after an Afghan national allegedly shot two National Guard soldiers in Washington. His comments have reopened debate over immigration rules, older geopolitical labels and how his administration defines countries of concern.

What exactly did Trump say?

In a post on Truth Social, Trump argued that the United States had “progressed technologically” but claimed that existing immigration policy had “eroded those gains.” He said that migration from “all Third World Countries” should be stopped so the American system can “fully recover.”

He also said he intended to undo what he described as “millions of Biden illegal admissions.” In the same message, he added that he wanted to remove anyone he viewed as “not a net asset to the United States” or “incapable of loving our Country.”

Trump further stated that any foreign national considered a “public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization” should be deported.

Where did the term “Third World” come from?

The concept of the First, Second and Third World traces back to the Cold War. The world was divided between the US-aligned Western Bloc and the communist Eastern Bloc, with the remaining nations grouped as the Third World.

Often used to describe poorer or “underdeveloped” countries, the phrase is now widely viewed as outdated.

Historically, the First World meant democratic, industrialised nations aligned with the US. The Second World referred to communist-socialist states governed by workers and peasants. The Third World consisted of countries that did not belong to either bloc.

The First World included regions such as North America, Western Europe, Japan, South Korea and Australia. Some African territories were also placed in this group because of Western ties, including Western Sahara under Spain, apartheid-era South Africa and South West Africa (Namibia), while Angola and Mozambique remained under Portuguese rule until becoming communist in 1975. Neutral countries like Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, Ireland and Finland were also seen as part of the First World.

The Second World included the Soviet republics and Eastern European nations such as Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia and the Balkans. It also stretched to Asian communist states linked to China, including Mongolia, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

The Third World covered the rest of the globe, generally consisting of underdeveloped agricultural countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

How does this tie into Trump’s wider actions on immigration?

Trump’s statements continue a wider push by his administration to tighten migration rules.

The administration said on 28 November that it would review the immigration status of every permanent resident or “Green Card” holder from Afghanistan and 18 other countries.

Joseph Edlow, director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), wrote on X, “At the direction of @POTUS, I have directed a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern.”

When asked which countries were included, a USCIS spokesperson told that the list followed Trump's June 2025 executive order. That order identified 19 nations as “of Identified Concern.”

The order blocked almost all nationals from 12 countries: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

Trump also announced a partial ban affecting travellers from seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.