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The United States is freezing each asylum decisions, officials said Friday (November 28, 2025), arsenic President Donald Trump hardens his anti-migrant stance aft an Afghan nationalist allegedly changeable 2 National Guard members this week successful Washington.
Wednesday's (November 26, 2025) onslaught connected the soldiers — 1 of whom died from her injuries — has ignited a caller crackdown connected foreigners successful the United States, with Mr. Trump besides pledging to suspend migration from "third satellite countries."
Joseph Edlow, manager of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), said his bureau has "halted each asylum decisions until we tin guarantee that each alien is vetted and screened to the maximum grade possible."
That followed Mr. Trump's announcement precocious Thursday (November 27, 2025) of plans to "permanently intermission migration from each Third World Countries to let the U.S. strategy to afloat recover."
Asked which nationalities would beryllium affected, the Department of Homeland Security pointed AFP to a database of 19 countries — including Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran and Myanmar — already facing U.S. question restrictions since June.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday (November 28, 2025) that the U.S. had temporarily stopped issuing visas to each individuals traveling connected Afghan passports.
"The United States has nary higher precedence than protecting our federation and our people," helium said.
‘Monster’
The shooting has brought unneurotic 3 politically explosive issues: Mr. Trump's arguable usage of the subject connected American soil, immigration, and the lingering bequest of the 20-year struggle successful Afghanistan.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, who allegedly opened occurrence connected the guardsmen conscionable a fewer blocks from the White House, had been portion of a CIA-backed "partner force" warring the Taliban successful Afghanistan.
He entered the United States arsenic portion of a resettlement programme pursuing the American subject withdrawal from Afghanistan successful 2021.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. lawyer for Washington DC, said Friday (November 28, 2025) that Lakanwal would beryllium charged with execution implicit the attack.
Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old West Virginia National Guard subordinate deployed successful the US superior arsenic portion of what Mr. Trump called a crackdown connected crime, died from her wounds.
The 2nd injured soldier, 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, was "fighting for his life," Ms. Pirro told the Fox News programme Fox & Friends.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has pledged to question the decease punishment against Lakanwal, describing him arsenic a "monster."
‘Long planned’
In his societal media station Thursday (November 27, 2025), Mr. Trump besides threatened to reverse "millions" of admissions granted nether his predecessor Joe Biden, successful a caller escalation of his anti-immigration stance.
Separately, the USCIS said it would re-examine the greenish cards — imperishable residency cards — issued to individuals who had migrated to the U.S. from the aforesaid 19 countries besides cited by the Department of Homeland Security.
More than 1.6 cardinal greenish paper holders, astir 12% of the full imperishable nonmigratory population, were calved successful the countries listed, according to U.S. migration information analysed by AFP.
Afghanistan has implicit 116,000 greenish paper holders.
Shawn VanDiver, president of AfghanEvac, a radical that helped resettle Afghans successful the state aft the subject withdrawal, blasted Mr. Rubio's determination to halt each visa issuances.
"They are utilizing a azygous convulsive idiosyncratic arsenic screen for a argumentation they person agelong planned," helium said successful a statement.
Lakanwal had been surviving successful the occidental authorities of Washington with his household and drove crossed the state to the superior earlier Wednesday's (November 26, 2025) shooting, officials said.
Mr. Trump has insisted that Lakanwal had been granted unvetted entree to the United States due to the fact that of lax asylum policies aft the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan nether erstwhile President Biden.
However, AfghanEvac said the Afghans had undergone "some of the astir extended information vetting" of immoderate migrants. It added that Lakanwal applied for asylum nether Mr. Biden but received it later, nether Mr. Trump.
