The aftermath of the deadly Thanksgiving Eve ambush on National Guard troops has exploded into a full-blown culture war. Just days after federal prosecutors announced they will seek the death penalty for the suspect, the political battle lines shifted from national security to accusations of racism.
While Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced a total freeze on asylum processing to fix a “broken” vetting system, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly ditched the moderate playbook on Meet the Press, accusing the Trump administration of using border security as a cover for racial bias.
‘They Don’t Want Brown People’
The temperature spiked when Kelly was asked about the administration’s decision to pause migration from “third-world countries”—a move officials argue is vital to stop terrorists from slipping through the cracks.
Kelly wasn’t buying it. Instead of debating the security failures that allowed the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, to allegedly plot an attack, Kelly ascribed something much different to the President’s policy.
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“When I heard the secretary say that they’re going to pause immigration from third-world countries… I take that as a message that they don’t want brown people coming to the United States,” Kelly told host Kristen Welker. “And I find that disturbing.”
It was a jarring pivot. With a 20-year-old specialist, Sarah Beckrom, dead and another soldier fighting for his life, Kelly effectively branded the effort to tighten entry requirements as a racial purity test rather than a response to a terror attack on U.S. soil.
Noem: The Threat is Homegrown
While Kelly focused on identity politics, Secretary Noem revealed a chilling new detail about the suspect: officials now believe Lakanwal was radicalized after he arrived in America.
“We do believe it was through connections in his home community and state,” Noem said, justifying the immediate freeze on asylum cases. “The suspect… was radicalized since he’s been here in this country.”
Lakanwal’s timeline has become a political weapon. He entered during the Biden administration’s chaotic 2021 withdrawal but had his asylum approved recently under the current administration.
Noem argued the initial entry was where the failure occurred, claiming security screenings were “completely abandoned” under Biden. Kelly fired back, calling the timeline irony “almost comical” and suggesting the current White House failed to vet him properly before stamping his recent approval.
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Downplaying the Criminal Element
Kelly didn’t stop at the race accusations. He also dismissed the administration’s focus on “remigration” of criminals, suggesting the White House is misleading the public about who is being targeted.
“They talk a lot about kicking out, you know, criminals… but that’s actually a small percentage of the people they are going after,” Kelly claimed.
For an administration elected on a promise of law and order, Kelly’s comments were met with a hard reality check from the DOJ. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro confirmed Friday that Lakanwal will face the death penalty for what she called a “premeditated ambush.”
While Democrats like Kelly frame the new enforcement measures as a grievance against “brown people,” Noem and the White House are digging in. The message from the administration is clear: the borders are closing until they know exactly who is walking through them, and for those who wish America harm, they will pay the “ultimate price.”
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