The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Thursday announced it has “indefinitely” stopped the processing of all immigrations requests relating to Afghan nationals after two National Guard soldiers were shot and critically wounded in Washington.
In a statement, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said the halt on processing would continue pending further review of security and vetting protocols. “The protection and safety of our homeland and of the American people remains our singular focus and mission,” it added.
Earlier, President Donald Trump described the shooting as “an act of terror,” saying the suspect had arrived in the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2021. The suspect, per the Reuters news agency, has been identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national from Washington State. He allegedly “ambushed” the National Guards soldiers and shot them before being taken into custody after suffering gunshot wounds during the attack.
Trump said the suspected shooter was an “animal” who was also “severely wounded” in the attack. He order the immediate deployment of 500 more guard soldiers to Washington, bolstering the nearly 2,200 already in the city as part of the president’s immigration and crime crackdown.
Reuters said Lakanwal had traveled to the U.S. in 2021 on a special visa program for Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the Afghanistan war and were vulnerable to reprisals from the ruling Taliban after the American withdrawal. It said a Department of Justice officials had said Lakanwal had overstayed his visa and was currently in the country illegally.