U.S. freezes Afghan immigration following Washington shooting
Immigration requests to enter the U.S. from Afghan nationals have been halted indefinitely, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services said, after two National Guard soldiers were critically wounded in Washington, The New Arab plus agencies reported on November 27th.
President Donald Trump condemned the shooting near the White House as “an act of terror”. He added that the suspect came from Afghanistan in 2021, as part of a mass Afghan immigration to the United States under then-President Joe Biden.
Kristi Noem, now serving as Trump’s homeland security chief, said the suspect, without naming him, was “one of the many unvetted” Afghans paroled into the country during the 2021 evacuation after the Taliban takeover.
Trump has vowed to re-examine these immigrants, which comes months after he enacted an immigration ban in which one of the countries on the list was Afghanistan.
The suspected gunman has been identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who served for a decade in the Afghan army alongside US special forces before arriving in the United States In September 2021. Lakanwal opened fire on two soldiers patrolling near the White House before being shot and taken into custody.
The shooting has reignited political debate over Afghan resettlement in the US under President Joe Biden. Trump repeated claims that Afghans evacuated during the US withdrawal were allowed in with little to no vetting, calling them “infamous flights,” and vowed a sweeping review of all entrants from Afghanistan.
As investigations continue, the indefinite immigration freeze marks the most notable restriction on Afghan entry since the Taliban’s return to power, leaving thousands of applicants who fled Afghanistan after Taliban takeover unsure of their future.
This comes during increased tensions in the region between Afghanistan and Pakistan, in which many refugees hoped to enter the United States as Pakistan increases crackdowns on Afghan immigrants.
The New Arab plus agencies, Maghrebi.org
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