Trump's migration freeze: What are Third World countries?

US President Donald Trump escalated his hardline immigration rhetoric by announcing a sweeping suspension on migration from "Third World countries" following the fatal shooting of two Guard members near the White House. The incident, which the US has termed an "act of terror", has become the latest flashpoint in Trump's ongoing crackdown on immigration after it emerged that the attacker was an Afghan national.

"I will permanently pause migration from all Third World countries to allow the US system to fully recover... Only reverse migration can fully cure the situation," Trump said, signalling one of the most aggressive immigration policy resets by any US administration.

However, Trump did not elaborate which nations he was referring to as "Third World countries", a colloquial term that was largely used in the Cold War era. In today's context, it is loosely used to refer to poor countries plagued by high poverty rates and economic instability.

In fact, there is no definition of 'Third World countries' as per the US immigration department. It has led to intense speculation on social media on which countries are likely to be hit by Trump's latest crackdown.

WHAT DO THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES MEAN?

While it is exactly not known how the term came into being, historians say it was coined by French demographer Alfred Sauvy in a 1952 article titled 'Three Worlds, One Planet'. The concept of First, Second, and Third World countries first arose in the mid-20th century to map the nations involved in the Cold War. Then, it didn't necessarily mean a rich or poor country.

In its original context, First World countries included the US and its allies, such as Western European nations, Japan and Australia.

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