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The United States has suspended all immigration requests from Afghans after an Afghan man was identified as a suspect in the shooting of two National Guard troops near the White House.
USCIS said the decision follows a review of “security and vetting protocols.”
The suspect in Wednesday’s shooting that seriously injured two National Guard members is said to have arrived in the United States from Afghanistan in September 2021.
US President Donald Trump said the attack was an “act of terror” and added that he would take steps to expel foreigners “from any country that doesn’t belong here.”
Tens of thousands of Afghans entered the United States under special immigration protection in 2021 following the chaotic U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan under former President Joe Biden.
The Department of Homeland Security named the suspect in a press release as Rahmanullah Lakamal, a “criminal alien from Afghanistan.” He applied for asylum in 2024 and his application was approved earlier this year, an official told BBC US news partner CBS.
It is understood the 29-year-old entered the country under the Operation Welcome Allies programme.
Trump said after the shooting that the United States “must now re-vet every foreign person who enters our country from Afghanistan under Biden.”
The Joint Task Force in Washington, D.C., which coordinates the National Guard deployment in the capital, said the attack occurred around 14:15 ET (17:15 GMT) on Wednesday near the Farragut Square subway station.
The troopers were conducting a high-visibility patrol at the corner of 17th and 1st Streets, a busy lunch spot for office workers.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Chief Constable Jeff Carroll said the suspect “came around the corner” and “immediately started shooting”, adding that soldiers were “ambushed”.
ReutersHe said other National Guard members nearby heard the gunshots and intervened, holding the suspect down until police arrived.
Law enforcement sources told CBS the suspect was shot four times.
Thousands of National Guard troops from across the United States have been deployed to Washington, D.C., in response to what Trump has called “out of control” crime.
There are similar deployments in other U.S. cities, which face legal challenges from opponents who accuse the Trump administration of overstepping its authority.
Trump earlier this year imposed a travel ban on nationals of Afghanistan and 11 other countries.
Afghan nationals holding special immigrant visas are one of the few exceptions to the blanket ban. Special immigrant visas are available to those who work directly with the U.S. military and fear retaliation from the Taliban as a result of such cooperation.
After the U.S. troop withdrawal in 2021, the Taliban returned to power.
Trump also ended a program that had provided deportation protections to thousands of Afghans.
The Temporary Protected Status program allows immigrants to obtain work authorization if the U.S. government deems it unsafe to return to their home country due to war.
