The United States has halted all asylum decisions and ceased issuing visas to individuals from Afghanistan, following the shooting of National Guard members in Washington, D.C., this week.

Joseph Edlow, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), announced late Friday that asylum claim processing was being suspended “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”

This action is part of a broader crackdown on legal immigration by the Trump Administration, initiated following the shooting of two West Virginia National Guard members stationed in Washington, D.C. The alleged perpetrator, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who collaborated with the CIA in Afghanistan, resettled in the U.S. in 2021.

Twenty-year-old Sarah Beckstrom succumbed to her injuries after the shooting on Wednesday, while Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains in critical condition. They were assigned to the city as part of an initiative President Donald Trump described as an effort to reduce crime.  

The State Department declared on X Friday evening that it had “IMMEDIATELY paused visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passports.”  

Shawn VanDiver, president of the nonprofit AfghanEvac, an organization supporting Afghans allied with the U.S. during the conflict against the Taliban, stated in a statement on Friday that the Trump Administration was penalizing an entire community for the actions of a single individual. 

“They are utilizing a solitary violent individual as justification for a pre-planned policy, transforming their own intelligence shortcomings into a pretext to penalize an entire community and the veterans who fought alongside them,” he asserted

“This transcends a policy disagreement. It represents a willful abandonment of our wartime allies and a violation of America’s commitments,” he further added. 

These declarations followed a series of announcements from various parts of the Administration outlining new immigration limitations targeting numerous countries. 

On Truth Social Thursday, Trump posted that he intended to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries” and “terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions,” without specifying which countries he meant.  

The President also stated his intention to “remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country,” and concluded that “[o]nly REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation.”

Additionally on Thursday, Edlow, the USCIS director, indicated that the U.S. would revoke visas issued to residents of 19 “countries of concern,” as directed by President Trump.  

“The protection of this country and of the American people remains paramount, and the American people will not bear the cost of the prior administration’s reckless resettlement policies. American safety is non negotiable,” Edlow declared in an X post. 

A former CIA partner

Lakanwal is thought to have carried out Wednesday’s shooting independently. He faces charges of ambushing the two National Guard members outside the Farragut West Metro station, discharging a .357 revolver, and subsequently being wounded in a shootout with other National Guardsmen.

Prior to his arrival in the U.S., Lakanwal collaborated with a U.S. military partner force in operations against the Taliban, as stated by CIA Director John Radcliffee, specifically within a CIA-supported Afghan Army unit, one of the special Zero Units. These covert units, affiliated with the CIA, have faced allegations of “extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances,” human rights abuses, and breaches of humanitarian law, claims which the U.S. government has dismissed as Taliban propaganda.

Although Lakanwal was granted asylum by the Trump Administration in April, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated Wednesday night that he entered the U.S. in September 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden-era initiative designed to assist Afghans and their families who supported the U.S. war effort following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. This program permitted almost 200,000 Afghan nationals to resettle in the U.S. for up to two years without obtaining permanent resident status.

FBI Director Kash Patel asserted in a news conference that the Biden-era program lacked “absolutely zero vetting,” but this assertion is incorrect. An audit, conducted by the department’s Inspector General in June 2025, revealed no systemic flaws in the comprehensive, multi-layered screening process mandated for Afghan refugees, a process involving several federal agencies.

Noem and Patel have further implied in recent congressional testimony that the 8,000 Afghan nationals granted asylum since Trump assumed office underwent rigorous vetting.

Lakanwal, a native of Afghanistan’s Khost province, currently resides in Bellingham, Washington, with his wife and five children. His family members informed authorities that he endures post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), originating from his combat experience in his homeland.

U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro had previously stated on Wednesday night, prior to the confirmation of Beckstrom’s death, that Lakanwal would face three counts of assault with intent to kill and a charge of possession of a firearm during a violent crime. However, with Beckstrom’s passing, he will now be charged with first-degree murder, according to Pirro.