WASHINGTON/BANGKOK/DHAKA: President Donald Trump said on Monday the homemade bomb attack in New York City that authorities said was carried out by a Bangladeshi man highlights the "urgent need" for Congress to enact immigration reform legislation.
Trump said in a statement the suspect had entered the United States on a family immigrant visa, benefiting from a US policy known as chain migration, which the president said "is incompatible with national security."
The Bangladeshi man set off the homemade bomb strapped to his body at a New York commuter hub at rush hour on Monday, wounding himself and three others in what New York Mayor Bill de Blasio called an attempted terrorist attack.
He was identified as Akayed Ullah, 27.
The Thai Foreign Ministry cited a report from the Consulate General in New York as saying that no Thai citizens have been affected by the explosion.
All Thai nationals living in the city, however, have been advised to closely monitor the situation and contact the Consulate General at 01 646 842 0864 if they need help, it added.
The man suspected of trying to bomb one of New York City's busiest commuter hubs had no criminal record in his home country which he last visited in September, Bangladesh's police chief said on Monday.
Inspector General of Police A K M Shahidul Hoque told Reuters the information was based on the passport number of the suspect, Akayed Ullah.
Ullah was from the southeastern Bangladeshi district of Chittagong, Hoque said. He last visited Bangladesh on Sept 8.
The Bangladeshi government also issued a statement on Monday condemning the attack.
"A terrorist is a terrorist irrespective of his or her ethnicity or religion, and must be brought to justice," a spokesman for the country's embassy in Washington said in an emailed statement.
