(MENAFN) US Suspends Afghan Immigration Following DC National Guard Shooting
The United States has halted all processing of immigration requests from Afghan nationals after an Afghan asylum seeker was identified as the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, DC.


Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem described the suspect as “an Afghan national who was one of the many unvetted, mass-paroled into the United States under Operation Allies Welcome on September 8, 2021, under the Biden administration.” Reports indicate that the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, critically injured the guardsmen during an ambush-style attack and entered the US in 2021, later being granted asylum.


The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has “stopped processing all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals indefinitely, pending further review of security and vetting protocols.”


President Donald Trump criticized the previous administration, stating that the suspect “was flown in” under Joe Biden’s evacuation program and called for a review of all Afghan entrants under that initiative. “We must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden, and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country,” Trump said.


According to the Department of Homeland Security, approximately 90,000 Afghans arrived in the US through Operation Allies Welcome. A June 2025 audit revealed that 55 of these individuals were on or later added to the terrorist watchlist.

The mass evacuation followed the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul during the final stage of the US withdrawal, ending the two-decade Western military presence in Afghanistan. Trump described the exit as a “humiliation” and criticized Biden for harming America’s global standing.

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