(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump directly ordered a “full-scale, rigorous re-examination” of green card holders from 19 “countries of concern” on Thursday, one day after an Afghan national was arrested following a shooting that has left two National Guard members fighting for their lives.
Officials identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwa, who arrived in September 2021 from Afghanistan under the Biden-era Operation Allies Welcome program and was granted asylum earlier this year.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow took to X to announce the green card crackdown and slammed the Biden administration’s “reckless resettlement policies”:
USCIS pointed to a June presidential proclamation naming each of the 19 nations “considered deficient with regards to screening and vetting,” including Afghanistan, Haiti, Iran, and Venezuela.
The department already had moved early on Thursday to halt all immigration requests from Afghanistan.
The Washington, D.C. on Wednesday shooting critically injured National Guard members Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24. Metropolitan Police Assistant Chief Jeff Carroll said the suspect approached the pair and “immediately started firing” in what he
Other Guard members tackled the gunman before police arrived; he was shot four times, according to law enforcement.