Newsletters
The United States has paused all visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passports, the State Department announced Friday, following a deadly shooting near the White House.
The suspension comes after an Afghan national, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was identified as the suspect in the incident that killed one U.S. National Guard member and injured another on Wednesday.
In a statement posted on the social media platform X, the department said the move is aimed at protecting U.S. national security and public safety. Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed the urgency, stating that the government’s top priority is "protecting our nation and our people."
In a parallel move, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has halted all asylum decisions. Joseph Edlow, director of USCIS, said the freeze will remain in effect until authorities can ensure that "every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible." He emphasized that the safety of American citizens takes precedence over immigration processing.
President Trump announced late Thursday plans to "permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover." Although not officially defined, the term aligns with a list of 19 countries already under U.S. travel restrictions since June, including Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, and Myanmar.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that nationals from these countries are subject to existing limitations. According to the Trump administration, further migration from these regions may be curtailed entirely under new executive orders.
In a further step, the administration will conduct a sweeping review of all Green Card holders, legal permanent residents, from the same 19 countries labeled as "of Identified Concern." USCIS Director Edlow stated that the review would be "full scale" and "rigorous," with an emphasis on determining whether existing residents pose a security risk.
The June executive order already bans nearly all entries from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, and imposes partial restrictions on travelers from seven others such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Laos. Some temporary work visas are still permitted from the partially restricted countries.
The shooting suspect, a 29-year-old Afghan national, reportedly received asylum—not permanent residency—in April this year. According to AfghanEvac, a non-governmental group involved in resettling Afghans after the 2021 Taliban takeover, the individual had formerly worked with U.S. forces in Afghanistan before being resettled in the United States.
Officials have not disclosed further details about the vetting process that led to his asylum approval or whether the suspect had been flagged in prior security checks.
1 min read
4 min read
