- The US halts the processing of all Afghan immigration requests after a shooting near White House
- Shooting suspect is an Afghan national, who was resettled in US via Biden's 2021 evacuation programme
- USCIS paused Afghan immigration pending security and vetting protocol review
The United States has stopped the processing of all immigration requests of Afghan nationals after two National Guard personnel were shot near the White House in Washington DC. The Donald Trump administration's move against Afghanistan came after an Afghan national was arrested for the daylight shooting two blocks from the White House.
"Effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols," the US Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a post on X.
"The protections and safety of our homeland and of the American people remains our singular focus and mission," the post added.
The move came after Trump vowed to redouble his government's efforts to deport migrants and suggested he may further scrutinise migrants who fled Afghanistan after the Taliban took over that country in 2021.
"We must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan," he said.
"We must take all necessary measures to endure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here, or add benefit to our country if they can't love our country, we don't want them," the President added.
The rare shooting of National Guard members, on the day before Thanksgiving, comes as the presence of the troops in the nation's capital and other cities around the country has been a flashpoint issue for months, fuelling court fights and a broader public policy debate about the Trump administration's use of the military to combat what officials cast as an out-of-control crime problem.
The shooter, identified as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is a migrant from Afghanistan who came to the US during the chaotic 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal and was resettled in Bellingham, Washington. He entered America under Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration programme that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the US withdrawal from the country.
The suspect who was in custody also was shot and had wounds that were not believed to be life-threatening, according to a report by the Associated Press.
The initiative brought roughly 76,000 people to the US, many of whom had worked alongside US troops and diplomats as interpreters and translators.
It has since faced intense scrutiny from Trump and his allies, congressional Republicans and some government watchdogs over gaps in the vetting process and the speed of admissions, even as advocates say it offered a lifeline to people at risk of Taliban reprisals.
