The United States said it has suspended all immigration applications for Afghan nationals indefinitely after two National Guard soldiers were shot and critically wounded near the White House in Washington.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a tweet: “Effective immediately, processing of all immigration applications involving Afghan nationals is suspended indefinitely pending further review of security and screening protocols.
The move comes after US President Donald Trump called the shooting an “act of terror”, saying the suspect was from Afghanistan in 2021. It is in line with Trump’s call for his administration to re-vet Afghan immigrants who entered the United States when Joe Biden was president.
“The protection and security of our homeland and the American people remains our singular goal and mission,” USCIS added.
According to Trump and two police officers, the suspect in the shooting is an Afghan national. He entered the United States in September 2021, after the chaotic fall of the government in Kabul, when Americans frantically evacuated people while the Taliban took control.
The 29-year-old suspect was part of Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden-era program that resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the US withdrawal from the country, officials said. The initiative brought roughly 76,000 Afghans to the United States, many of whom worked alongside American soldiers and diplomats as interpreters and translators.
Since then, it has faced intense scrutiny from Trump and his allies, Republicans in Congress and some government watchdogs over loopholes in the vetting process and the speed of admissions, even as supporters say it has offered a lifeline to people at risk of Taliban retaliation.
Trump described Afghanistan as a “hell hole on earth” and said his administration would vet anyone who entered the country under President Joe Biden, a measure his administration had already planned before the incident.
