US Halts All Asylum Decisions After Shooting of National Guard Members

The Trump administration has halted all asylum decisions and paused visa issuance for travelers holding Afghan passports, using the National Guard shooting in Washington to intensify its efforts to restrict legal immigration.

The suspect in Wednesday’s shooting near the White House—which killed Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and critically wounded Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, of the West Virginia National Guard—faces charges including first-degree murder. Investigators are still searching for a motive.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who worked with the CIA during the Afghanistan War, applied for asylum during the Biden administration and was granted it earlier this year under President Donald Trump, according to a group assisting Afghans who helped U.S. forces.

The Republican administration has vowed to block entry from several poor nations and re-evaluate Afghans and other legal migrants already living in the U.S.

The two Guard members were deployed as part of Trump’s crime-fighting mission in Washington. The president has previously sent—or attempted to deploy—Guard units to other cities to support his mass-deportation campaign, though several efforts have faced legal challenges.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor in Washington, said Lakanwal is also charged with two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed. “There are many changes to come,” she told Fox News.

Asylum and visas paused

Trump characterized the shooting as a “terrorist attack” and blamed the Biden administration for allowing Afghans who worked with U.S. forces to enter the country.

USCIS Director Joseph Edlow announced on X that the agency is pausing all asylum decisions “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”

Experts note that U.S. vetting procedures for asylum-seekers are already extensive, and asylum cases filed domestically have long faced severe backlogs—delays critics say have worsened under the current administration.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio separately confirmed a halt to “visa issuance for ALL individuals traveling on Afghan passports.”

Shawn VanDiver, president of the San Diego–based group #AfghanEvac, condemned the moves. “They are using a single violent individual as cover for a policy they have long planned, turning their own intelligence failures into an excuse to punish an entire community and the veterans who served alongside them,” he said.

The suspect

Lakanwal lived in Bellingham, Washington, with his wife and five children, according to his former landlord. Neighbor Mohammad Sherzad described him as quiet and polite, though struggling to find work. Sherzad said Lakanwal “disappeared” about two weeks ago.

Lakanwal briefly worked this summer as an independent delivery contractor for Amazon Flex, the company said. Investigators executed warrants in Washington state and other locations on Friday.

Officials said Lakanwal entered the U.S. in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, the Biden-era initiative that resettled Afghans who fled after the U.S. withdrawal. He then applied for asylum, which was approved this year under the Trump administration, according to #AfghanEvac.

A relative from Khost, speaking anonymously for safety reasons, said Lakanwal had served in a CIA-backed Afghan Army “Zero Unit” in Kandahar, beginning as a security guard in 2012 before rising to team leader and GPS specialist.

Remembering Beckstrom

Beckstrom enlisted in 2023 after graduating high school and served as a military police officer with the 863rd Military Police Company, the West Virginia National Guard said. “She exemplified leadership, dedication, and professionalism,” the statement read. She had volunteered for the Washington deployment.

West Virginia University held a moment of silence for Beckstrom and Wolfe before Saturday’s football game against Texas Tech.

More troops to Washington

The administration has ordered an additional 500 National Guard members to Washington. An Army spokesperson said several governors plan to support the deployment, with specific troop announcements coming from state offices. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the president directed him to send the reinforcements.

Nearly 2,200 troops are currently assigned to the joint task force that has operated in the capital since August, according to the latest government update.