US Halts Afghan Immigration Processing After DC Attack

President Trump attributed the entry of the National Guardsmen shooting suspect to President Biden’s policies.

Following the identification of an Afghan asylum seeker as the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., the U.S. has halted the processing of all immigration applications from Afghan citizens.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated that the suspect was “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 the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who allegedly seriously wounded two guardsmen in an ambush on Wednesday, entered the U.S. in 2021 and received asylum this year.

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

President Trump claimed that the suspect “was flown in” under President Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome (OAW), which expedited the evacuation of Afghans after the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021.

Trump stated, “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.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reports that approximately 90,000 Afghans entered the U.S. under OAW and were permitted to stay. A government audit from June 2025 revealed that 55 of these evacuees were either on the terrorist watchlist upon arrival or were added later.

The Taliban’s recapture of Kabul marked the end of the 20-year Western occupation of Afghanistan. Trump described the withdrawal as a “humiliation” and accused Biden of damaging America’s reputation.

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