Trump halts Afghan immigration, reviews asylum cases after shooting
Critics say Trump is unfairly targeting Afghans and other immigrants
Likely legal challenges to any sweeping immigration restrictions
By Ted Hesson, Julia Harte and Kristina Cooke
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump is poised to crack down on legal immigration to the US after an Afghan immigrant was accused of assaulting National Guard members, a move that reflects Trump’s first-term restrictions and could face similar challenges. Less than two days after authorities said Rahmanullah Lakanwal opened fire on guard members, killing one and critically wounding another, Trump halted the processing of Afghan immigration applications, ordered a review of all people approved for asylum under the previous administration and signaled he would expand vetting under the travel ban to people from 19 countries. Since returning to office in January, Trump has aggressively prioritized immigration enforcement, sending federal agents to major US cities and turning away asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border. His administration has often emphasized the push for deportation, but less emphasis on efforts to reshape legal immigration. A flurry of promised cuts since Wednesday’s attack now suggests his administration is focusing more on legal immigration as part of protecting national security and blaming former President Joe Biden for more liberal policies.
While some of the restrictions being rolled out in recent days are new — such as suspending all Afghan immigration applications — others build on Trump’s policies that date back to his 2017-2021 presidency.
“I think they’re just going to potentially accelerate their plans, plans that they’ve had all along that don’t make us safer,” said Doug Rand, a former senior adviser at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under Biden.
TRUMP HAS LOST GROUND ON IMMIGRATION WITH AMERICANS
Critics say the Trump administration is using an isolated incident to unfairly demonize immigrants from Afghanistan and other countries designated as security risks.
“This act of violence does not reflect the Afghan community, which continues to contribute across the United States and undergo the most extensive vetting of any immigrant population,” AfghanEvac, a coalition of veterans and others in support of Afghan immigrants, said in a statement.
In an interview with Fox News, Republican U.S. Representative Mike Lawler of New York accused the Biden administration of ineffective screening of refugees from Afghanistan, but said the U.S. should not abandon its commitment to Afghans who aided U.S. forces during the 20-year war there.
“We want to make sure that everyone is very clearly vetted that they meet the most stringent requirements,” he said. “But I want to point out that you can’t curse every person who came from Afghanistan.
Jessica Vaughan, policy director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports lower levels of immigration, said some immigrants come from countries where the U.S. receives limited or unreliable information, or where terrorist groups operate, making vetting more difficult.
“We have to be more careful with applicants from these places,” she said. Trump’s new push to curb legal immigration comes as he has lost ground with Americans on his signature policy. Reuters/Ipsos polls show Trump’s approval rating on immigration has wavered as his administration has deployed undercover immigration agents into American cities in recent months, sparking a backlash from residents.
About 41% approved of Trump’s approach to immigration as of mid-November, down from a peak of 50% in mid-March, Reuters/Ipsos polls show.
OFFICIALS PROMISE MAJOR CUTS, BUT TAKE MORE LIMITED STEPS
Over the past two days, Trump and top officials have suggested on social media that the administration could make sweeping changes to the legal immigration system, but U.S. agencies have so far announced more limited actions. Trump said Thursday night on his Truth Social platform that his administration would “permanently suspend” migration from all “third world countries.” When asked for a list of countries, the US Department of Homeland Security pointed to 19 countries covered by Trump’s existing travel ban — 12 of which already face outright bans, including Afghanistan.
Joe Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said in an X post on Thursday that he had ordered “an extensive and rigorous review of every green card for every alien from all affected countries.”
In an announcement hours later, USCIS said the review would focus on the 19 travel ban countries and be limited to pending or future applications.
The Department of Homeland Security said after the attack that it was reviewing all asylum cases approved during the Biden administration.
A WIDE RE-OPENING OF CASES WOULD BE PROCESS-FREE
The review comes in addition to a similar effort launched last week to reexamine refugees who entered the country from abroad under the Biden administration.
Michael Valverde, USCIS’ former associate director of operations, said the agency reviews cases frequently, but that a large-scale reopening of hundreds of thousands of cases would be unprecedented.
“It would be very time-consuming and likely to add to the delay for those awaiting their initial decisions,” he said.
In his post on Truth Social, Trump also said he would end federal benefits for noncitizens, denaturalize “migrants who undermine domestic peace” and deport immigrants who are “incompatible with Western civilization.”
Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, said stripping federal benefits from all non-citizens would be quickly struck down by the courts. The Supreme Court ruled in 1971 that it was unconstitutional to limit welfare benefits to US citizens only.
“Especially with people who are here legally, where the benefits are guaranteed by law, it’s easy for the federal courts,” Chishti said.
The Trump administration has already sought to make denaturalization — the stripping of citizenship from immigrants — more of a focus. However, any effort to deport immigrants based solely on their perceived compatibility with Western civilization would be novel and would almost certainly face legal challenges.
Responding to a request for comment, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson accused Democrats of blocking efforts to eliminate potential threats.
“The Trump administration is taking every possible measure — in the face of unrelenting Democratic opposition — to get these monsters out of our country and clean up the mess the Biden administration has made,” she said.
Democrats say Trump’s immigration crackdown has swept away noncriminals and torn families apart instead of focusing on serious criminals.
This article was generated from an automated news agency source without text modification.
