Following Wednesday’s assault in Washington, D.C., targeting National Guard personnel, the State Department has temporarily halted all visa processing for individuals traveling with Afghan passports.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an Afghan citizen, faces charges including first-degree murder linked to the ambush, which resulted in the death of West Virginia National Guard Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and severe injuries to U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24.
According to several sources who spoke with Fox News Digital, Lakanwal underwent vetting by the CIA in Afghanistan and received final asylum approval earlier in the year under the Trump administration.
In a social media announcement, the agency stated, “The Department of State has IMMEDIATELY put a hold on issuing visas for individuals traveling with Afghan passports. The Department is implementing all required actions to safeguard U.S. national security and public safety.”
LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONDING AFTER 2 NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS SHOT NEAR WHITE HOUSE
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also shared the announcement on X.
“President Trump’s State Department has halted visa processing for ALL individuals traveling with Afghan passports,” Rubio posted. “Protecting our nation and its citizens is the highest priority for the United States.”
AfghanEvac, a U.S.-based nonprofit focused on the relocation and resettlement of Afghan allies, criticized Friday’s decision, labeling it a “violation of federal law.”
AfghanEvac President Shawn VanDiver stated, “It appears Secretary Rubio is trying to shut down the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program, which is a direct breach of federal law and standing court orders. He seems to be acting under the direction of President Trump and Stephen Miller, which is undoubtedly the outcome they’ve been working toward for months.
They are exploiting a single violent individual to justify a pre-planned policy, using their own intelligence failures as justification to penalize an entire community and the veterans who served alongside them.”
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The new policy was announced shortly after the media questioned Trump about how the attack could occur despite successful vetting.
“I mean, he snapped, and it happens. It happens too often with these people,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. “There was no vetting or anything. … We have many others in this country, and we’re going to remove them, but they become unstable. Something affects them.”
Trump mentioned that “when asylum is granted, and they’re flown in, it’s very difficult to remove them. Regardless of how you want to handle it, it’s very difficult to remove them. But we’re going to remove them all now.”
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph B. Edlow also announced Thursday that, following Trump’s instructions, there would be a “thorough, comprehensive review” of all green cards issued to immigrants from “every country of concern.”
The USCIS has identified 19 countries as “high-risk,” including Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
