The United States has taken immediate action to suspend all visa services for individuals presenting Afghan passports in the wake of a shooting that claimed the life of a National Guard member and injured a colleague near the White House. The State Department confirmed the suspension via its X account: “The Department of State has IMMEDIATELY paused visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passports.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed the importance of this decision for national security, stating that protecting American citizens remains the administration’s foremost objective.
In parallel, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has ceased all asylum adjudications. USCIS Director Joseph B. Edlow conveyed the agency’s rationale on X: “USCIS has halted all asylum decisions until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible. The safety of the American people always comes first.” These new measures build upon the State Department’s prior decision to pause Afghan immigration applications during a security review. The suspect, identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a citizen of Afghanistan, entered the U.S. in September 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, a program established after the Taliban’s takeover, and later received asylum. Investigators found he had traveled from Washington state to commit the attack. The incident has fueled debate on immigration policy, with former President Trump denouncing the event as an “act of terror” and promising to intensify efforts to deport foreign nationals deemed a risk to public safety.