Trump administration pauses immigration requests from Afghans after Washington shooting

The United States immigration authorities on Wednesday paused the processing of all immigration requests from Afghan citizens after a man who entered the country from Afghanistan in 2021 was identified as the suspect in a shooting that injured two National Guard members in Washington, CBS News reported.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a statement that the “processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols”, effective immediately.

The decision was announced after the Department of Homeland Security identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who arrived in 2021 under a programme named Operation Allies Welcome.

Operation Allies Welcome, launched by former President Joe Biden in August 2021, had brought tens of thousands of Afghans to the US following the Taliban’s return to power.

The US evacuated tens of thousands of Afghans while withdrawing from the country in 2021, resettling more than 85,000 people through Operation Allies Welcome. Many had worked with American forces and qualified for Special Immigrant Visas, though that programme had long suffered from severe backlogs, Reuters reported.

Others sought asylum or applied for family-based visas. A large number were granted temporary protections such as humanitarian parole or temporary protected status, leaving them without a clear path to permanent residency unless...

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