US halts all asylum decisions after shooting of National Guard members
WASHINGTON AP The Trump administration has halted all asylum decisions and paused issuing visas for people traveling on Afghan passports days after a shooting near the White House that left one National Guard member dead and another in critical condition Investigators continued Saturday to seek a motive in the shooting in which the suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal now faces charges including first-degree murder Lakanwal is a -year-old Afghan national who worked with the CIA during the Afghanistan War He applied for asylum during the Biden administration and was granted it this year under Trump according to a group that assists with resettlement of Afghans who helped U S forces in their country The Trump administration has seized on the shooting to vow to intensify efforts to rein in legal immigration promising to pause entry from selected poor countries and review Afghans and other legal transients already in the country That is in addition to other measures selected of which were previously set in motion Specialist Sarah Beckstrom died after the Wednesday shooting and Staff Sgt Andrew Wolfe was hospitalized in critical condition They were deployed with the West Virginia National Guard as part of Trump s crime-fighting mission in the city The president also has deployed or tried to deploy National Guard members to other cities to assist with his mass deportation efforts but has faced court challenges U S Attorney Jeanine Pirro s office noted the charges against Lakanwal also include two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed In an interview on Fox News she reported there were a large number of charges to come Asylum decisions halted Trump called the shooting a terrorist attack and criticized the Biden administration for enabling entry by Afghans who worked with U S forces The director of U S Citizenship and Immigration Services Joseph Edlow noted in a post on the social platform X that asylum decisions will be paused until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree achievable Experts say the U S has rigorous vetting systems for asylum-seekers Asylum maintains made from inside the country through USCIS have long faced backlogs Critics say the slowdown has been exacerbated during the Trump administration Also Friday Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted his department paused visa issuance for ALL individuals traveling on Afghan passports Shawn VanDiver president of the San Diego-based group AfghanEvac announced in response They are using a single violent individual as cover for a protocol they have long planned turning their own intelligence failures into an excuse to punish an entire neighborhood and the veterans who served alongside them The suspect Lakanwal lived in Bellingham Washington about miles kilometers north of Seattle with his wife and five children former landlord Kristina Widman disclosed Neighbor Mohammad Sherzad declared Lakanwal was polite and quiet and spoke little English Sherzad stated he attended the same mosque as Lakanwal and heard from other members that he was struggling to find work He mentioned Lakanwal disappeared about two weeks ago Lakanwal worked briefly this summer as an independent contractor for Amazon Flex which lets people use their own cars to deliver packages according to a company spokesperson Investigators are executing warrants in Washington state and other parts of the country Lakanwal entered the U S in through Operation Allies Welcome a Biden administration activity that resettled Afghans after the U S withdrawal leaders commented Lakanwal applied for asylum during that administration but his asylum was approved this year under the Trump administration AfghanEvac disclosed in a report Lakanwal served in a CIA-backed Afghan Army unit known as one of the special Zero Units in the southern province of Kandahar according to a resident of the eastern province of Khost who identified himself as Lakanwal s cousin and spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals The man announced Lakanwal started out working for the unit as a measure guard in and was later promoted to become a group leader and a GPS specialist Beckstrom exemplified leadership dedication Beckstrom enlisted in after graduating high school and served with distinction as a military police officer with the rd Military Police Company the West Virginia National Guard commented She exemplified leadership dedication and professionalism the guard stated in a announcement adding that Beckstrom volunteered for the D C deployment Associated Press journalists Sarah Brumfield Siddiqullah Alizai Elena Becatoros Randy Herschaft Cedar Attanasio and Hallie Golden contributed
