Afghanistan

Beth Bailey | 12.4.2025 1:30 PM

On November 26, Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal shot two members of the West Virginia National Guard in Washington, D.C. Following the attack, U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstom died of her wounds. U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe remains in critical condition.

The attack triggered an immediate and far-reaching crackdown on Afghans living in the U.S. and on Afghan allies abroad.

On November 29, the Trump administration announced it would pause all asylum decisions and halt the issuance of any visas to Afghans "until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible." The pause also impacts the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, which confers legal permanent residence on Afghans who provided faithful and valuable service to the United States.

The New York Times reported that an email sent to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on November 29 directed field offices to arrest about 1,860 Afghans with final deportation orders.

On December 1, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced intentions to expand a travel ban already impacting numerous categories of individuals from Afghanistan. In a post on X, Noem said she recommended a "full travel ban on every damn country that's been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies."

On the same day, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the Trump administration would be "actively re-examining" all Afghans who entered the U.S. during the Joe Biden administration.

President Donald Trump has inaccurately claimed that Afghans who arrived in the U.S. as a result of Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) were "unvetted and unchecked." In fact, the 72,000 Afghans who arrived through OAW were subject to a three-tiered system of vetting that saw them........

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