Just hours after a horrific shooting ambush in Washington, D.C. Wednesday afternoon, the Trump administration announced a major crackdown on all immigration applications from people from Afghanistan.
The gunman who opened fire on two National Guard members while yelling “ALLAHU AKBAR” was identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, who entered the U.S. on September 8, 2021 under a Biden administration program for Afghans called Operation Allies Welcome. He had reportedly been living in Bellingham, Washington with his wife and five children.
This comes after the FBI just thwarted another terror plot involving an Afghan migrant who came to the US exactly ONE DAY after Lakanwal arrived. Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, who the Biden administration allowed to enter the United States on September 9, 2021, on a special immigrant visa, shortly after the bungled US withdrawal from Afghanistan, was arrested in October 2024 for plotting a major terror attack in the U.S. on Election Day, Nov. 4, 2024.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced in a post on X Wednesday night, “Effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols. The protection and safety of our homeland and of the American people remains our singular focus and mission.”
Effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols.
The protection and safety of our homeland and of the American people remains our singular focus and…
— USCIS (@USCIS) November 27, 2025
More chilling details from CBS News: The U.S. military evacuated tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan in 2021, as the United States’ two-decade-long war in the country ended with the Taliban returning to power.
Upward of 85,000 Afghans were settled in the U.S. under Operation Allies Welcome. In many cases, they were initially housed at military bases and flown to the U.S. after undergoing processing.
Many Afghan nationals qualified for Special Immigration Visas, a type of permanent visa offered to people who were employed by the U.S. government — including military interpreters who often feared retribution from the Taliban for aiding U.S. forces. That program was plagued by years of backlogs, however.
Others from Afghanistan applied for asylum — which is offered to people fleeing persecution — or visas based on being family members of U.S. citizens or green card holders.
And many were granted less permanent protections like humanitarian parole and temporary protected status, putting them in an uncertain situation with no clear pathway to permanent residency unless they qualified for some other immigration status. The Trump administration ended temporary protected status for Afghanistan in July of this year, impacting around 8,000 enrollees.
CBS News admitted that some Republican officials “have long questioned whether the vetting processes were rigorous or complete enough.”
Vice President JD Vance wrote on X, “I remember back in 2021 criticizing the Biden policy of opening the floodgate to unvetted Afghan refugees. Friends sent me messages calling me a racist. It was a clarifying moment. They shouldn’t have been in our country.”
I remember back in 2021 criticizing the Biden policy of opening the floodgate to unvetted Afghan refugees. Friends sent me messages calling me a racist. It was a clarifying moment.
They shouldn’t have been in our country.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) November 27, 2025
Libs of TikTok posted a copy of an email and wrote:
FLASHBACK: Email obtained by @HawleyMO [Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo)] shows the Biden admin ordered them to fill up planes with Afghan “refugees” even without vetting them. Troops on the ground said they were shocked by Biden’s failure to vet these Afghans before bringing them into our country.
FLASHBACK: Email obtained by @HawleyMO shows the Biden admin ordered them to fill up planes with Afghan “refugees” even without vetting them.
Troops on the ground said they were shocked by Biden’s failure to vet these Afghans before bringing them into our country. pic.twitter.com/JMDrI6O7zU
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 27, 2025
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) wrote, “Please pray for our National Guardsmen and their families. The news probably won’t tell you this: the U.S. House of Representatives voted to relax vetting and increase visas for Afghan nationals seeking to enter the United States during the Biden administration, but I voted no.”
Please pray for our National Guardsmen and their families. The news probably won’t tell you this: the U.S. House of Representatives voted to relax vetting and increase visas for Afghan nationals seeking to enter the United States during the Biden administration, but I voted no. https://t.co/fViKz6Ezsy pic.twitter.com/SbmLJVbdjt
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) November 27, 2025
In a post on Truth Social Wednesday, President Donald Trump vowed, “The animal that shot the two National Guardsmen, with both being critically wounded, and now in two separate hospitals, is also severely wounded, but regardless, will pay a very steep price. God bless our Great National Guard, and all of our Military and Law Enforcement. These are truly Great People. I, as President of the United States, and everyone associated with the Office of the Presidency, am with you!”
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 26, 2025
Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter.)
The DML News App: www.X.com/DMLNewsApp
The Dennis Michael Lynch Podcast archive is available below, with the most recent on top. Never miss an episode. Subscribe to the show by downloading The DML News App or go to Apple Podcasts.
