President Donald Trump has ordered the suspension of all asylum decisions following Wednesday’s shooting in Washington, D.C., that left one National Guard member dead and another critically injured. The move is part of a sweeping clampdown on immigration announced after an Afghan national was charged in the attack.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services halted all asylum decisions “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible,” USCIS Director Joseph B. Edlow wrote on X late Friday.
Edlow also announced new national security measures and said the agency would reexamine every green card issued to immigrants from what he called “countries of concern,” including Afghanistan.
The Department of Homeland Security has simultaneously stopped processing all immigration requests from Afghanistan and is reviewing asylum cases approved under the Biden administration. The Department of State said it had “immediately paused visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passports,” Fox News reported.
The shooting occurred Wednesday near the Farragut West Metro station, where Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, allegedly opened fire on two service members of the West Virginia National Guard. Army Spec. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from her injuries, and Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, remained in critical condition Saturday, according to federal authorities.
The Justice Department has charged Lakanwal with first-degree murder and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, and will seek the death penalty, Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed.
Trump had declared in a Truth Social post Thursday that his administration would “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover.” USCIS confirmed it was implementing the order and freezing all pending decisions, citing public safety concerns.
Lakanwal entered the United States legally in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration initiative to resettle Afghans who had worked with U.S. forces before the Taliban returned to power. Afghans were evacuated en masse to be resettled in Europe and the U.S. following the Biden administration's hasty withdrawal from the country.
The Department of Homeland Security has said that all applicants were required to pass biometric, biographic, and security checks conducted by multiple intelligence and law enforcement agencies. A law enforcement official told The Washington Post that Lakanwal was initially granted humanitarian parole and later approved for asylum by the Trump administration earlier this year.
The Post quoted multiple sources saying that Lakanwal had worked with the CIA in Afghanistan and underwent extensive background checks before being relocated to the U.S., including vetting by the National Counterterrorism Center and the CIA. The Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General released a report in June that found “no systemic failures” in vetting processes for Afghan refugees and asylum applicants.
Still, Lakanwal’s case has reignited political disputes over the security of resettlement programs.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem wrote on X that the suspect was “one of the many unvetted, mass paroled into the United States” during the Biden administration.
Vice President JD Vance and FBI Director Kash Patel also said that Lakanwal had not been properly vetted.
The White House confirmed that Lakanwal’s parole had been granted under Biden-era rules, but his asylum was approved this year under a 2023 settlement meant to expedite delayed cases.
A White House official was quoted as saying that even if Lakanwal had not received asylum, he would not have been deported due to his parole status. The official said the settlement required USCIS to fast-track cases filed by Afghan evacuees, many of whom had experienced multi-year delays.
The attack prompted criticism from Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who alleged that the presence of National Guard troops in cities was partly to blame. Schultz questioned whether the suspect would have targeted military personnel in the capital if the Guard had not been stationed there under Trump’s orders, according to the New York Post.
Critics have also questioned the timeline of Lakanwal’s arrival in the U.S.
Trump said he entered on the chaotic flights out of Kabul in August 2021, but the Post reported that those evacuees were first processed in Qatar, where they underwent vetting at Al-Udeid Air Base.
