Afghan Terror Attack Sparks Federal Freeze on Asylum, Visa, and Immigration Programs

WASHINGTON, D.C. - After an Afghan national allowed into the U.S. to escape the Taliban repaid the favor by shooting two National Guard troops in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, killing one and leaving the other one fighting for his life, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Friday that it has halted all asylum decisions pending additional vetting, Fox News Digital reports. 

USCIS Director Joseph B. Edlow made the announcement, saying the program will be suspended “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,” he wrote on X. 

On Wednesday, the two Guard members—Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24—were ambushed on a D.C. street by a gunman, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, without warning. Beckstrom died from her wounds, while Wolfe continues to be listed in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds, including at least one to the head. 

Lakanwal faces multiple charges, including one count of first-degree murder and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has vowed to seek the death penalty against Lakanwal, who entered the U.S. legally in 2021 under the Biden administration’s lax "humanitarian parole” system, Operation Allies Welcome, following the bungled U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. 

He was allegedly vetted by the Biden-era CIA in Afghanistan for his work with that agency, and again for his asylum application in the U.S., Fox News Digital reported. A senior U.S. official told Fox News Digital he was “clean on all checks” in his background check. His asylum application was approved by the Trump administration earlier this year. 

Edlow said Thursday that U.S. officials will reexamine green cards issued to every “country of concern” alien admitted into the U.S., including Afghanistan. The agency has also implemented new national security measures to be considered when vetting aliens from “high-risk” countries. 

“I have directed a full-scale, rigorous reexamination of every green card for every alien from every country of concern,” Edlow wrote. 

In addition to the action taken by USCIS, the Department of Homeland Security said it immediately halted all immigration requests from Afghanistan and was in the process of reviewing all asylum cases approved under the Biden administration. 

The State Department has also paused all visas for people traveling on Afghan passports in response to the attack on the two Guard members, both members of the West Virginia National Guard. 

“The Department of State has IMMEDIATELY paused visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passports,” the agency wrote. “The Department is taking all necessary steps to protect U.S. national security and public safety.” 

In June, a report issued by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General found “no systemic failures” in the vetting of Afghan refugees or subsequent immigration pathways. 

Fox News Digital reported that Lakanwal had served with an elite CIA counterterrorism unit in Afghanistan, NDS-03. That unit was operated by the CIA with direct U.S. intelligence and military support, according to Afghan Evac, a non-profit that works with Afghan nationals on Special Immigrant Visas (SIV). 

The unit Lakanwal was assigned to operated in Afghanistan’s southern region–in Kandahar, Helmand, and Uruzgan out of the former compound of the late Taliban leader Mullah Omar, referred to as “Mullah Omar’s house,” and by U.S. forces as “Camp Gecko.” 

NDS-03 was one of an estimated five paramilitary groups working with the CIA and were commonly called “Zero Units” due to the numbers following their National Directorate of Security (NDS) or Afghan intelligence service designation, Fox News Digital reported. 

Afghan members of the units were “highly vetted” and trained by the CIA and carried out some of the toughest counterterrorism operations against the Taliban, al Qaeda, and others. They were considered very “trusted and brave” by those who worked with them. 

The shooting of the two Guard members came as Democrats escalated their rhetoric against the administration's deployment of Guard members, primarily in blue cities, to combat increasing crime.

Six Democrats are also under fire for a video in which they told military members they did “not have to follow illegal orders,” ostensibly coming from President Trump. One of those six, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), is reportedly subject to recall and potential court-martial for urging military members to disobey orders, a possible violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).