President Donald Trump is pausing the processing of all Afghan migrants after it was discovered that an Afghan national shot two National Guardsmen near the White House in D.C. on Wednesday.
"Processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols," the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced.
The person arrested for the shooting, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, entered the United States in 2021 under the Biden-era initiative Operation Allies Welcome, according to Just the News.
In speaking to condemn the shooting, Trump blamed his predecessor, Joe Biden, for his lax immigration policies.
"We must now reexamine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden, and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country," he said.
The New York Times reported that Lakanwal drove across the country from his home north of Seattle, where he lives with his wife and five children, and had a plan to attack the Guard troops.
A .357 revolver was used in the shooting. Lakanwal allegedly shot one guardsman, then shot again after he fell, before shooting the second guardsman.
The soldiers, Andrew Wolfe and Sarah Beckstrom, ages 20 and 24, are in critical condition after surgery.
Apparently, Lakanwal worked with the CIA in Afghanistan in 2021 and was part of the withdrawal of Afghan allies when the U.S. withdrew from that area.
Jeanine Pirro said that the U.S. would seek the death penalty for Lakanwal if the guard troops didn't survive.
Pirro also said Lakanwal is being charged with three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, as well as possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.
She also defended the presence of National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., saying that their presence helped form “the line that separates a civilized society from a barbaric one.”
A judge has ruled to block the continued deployment, saying it was probably illegal, but Trump is fighting to keep the troops there.
The nonpartisan group #AfghanEvac said that Lakanwal's case “appears to be a tragic outlier — not a pattern."
