DST News: The United States has paused all asylum rulings following the fatal shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, DC, the head of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed on Friday.
USCIS Director Joseph Edlow announced the decision on X, saying the halt would remain until authorities could ensure “maximum” levels of vetting for all applicants. The move came shortly after President Donald Trump vowed to “permanently pause migration” from what he described as “third world countries.”
The suspension follows the death of a National Guard soldier who was critically wounded in Wednesday’s attack. An Afghan national has been accused of carrying out the shooting.
According to CBS News, asylum officers have been instructed not to approve, deny, or close any asylum cases—regardless of nationality. They may continue processing files but must halt when a decision is ready to be entered.
The agency has not released further details on the duration of the pause or the specific procedures involved.
Trump also did not specify which countries might face new migration restrictions, though similar policies in the past have triggered legal challenges and criticism from UN bodies.
The announcements add to a series of aggressive immigration steps taken during Trump’s second term. Those include plans for large-scale deportations, major cuts to annual refugee admissions, and efforts to end automatic citizenship for most people born in the US.
The administration also suspended immigration processing for Afghans this week, citing a need to review security protocols. On Thursday, USCIS said it would re-evaluate green cards issued to migrants from 19 countries—pointing to a White House order from June that included Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Somalia, and Venezuela.
Later that night, Trump said he would seek to eliminate “all federal benefits and subsidies” for non-citizens, arguing the US needed to “recover” from past immigration policies.
In a highly charged social media post, Trump blamed refugees for contributing to what he called “social dysfunction” in the US and claimed Somali refugees had “taken over” parts of Minnesota. He pledged to halt migration from all “Third World Countries,” using a Cold War-era term for developing nations.
The UN urged Washington to uphold its obligations under the Refugee Convention, reiterating that asylum seekers must be protected under international law.
Some US immigration advocates criticized the administration’s sweeping response. Jeremy McKinney, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said officials were “scapegoating” migrants before the investigation into the shooting had determined a motive.
Authorities say the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the US in 2021 under a program offering protection to Afghans who assisted American forces during the withdrawal from Afghanistan. He had previously worked alongside the CIA and would have undergone multiple layers of vetting, officials told CNN.
Friends told the New York Times that Lakanwal had struggled with mental health issues linked to his past work. He applied for asylum in 2024 and was granted protection earlier this year, though his green-card application remains pending.
Lakanwal was arrested after the attack but has reportedly refused to cooperate with investigators. Trump described the shooting as an “act of terror.”
The soldier who died, identified as 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom of West Virginia, had been deployed to Washington as part of Trump’s initiative to boost security in the capital. She had volunteered to work through the Thanksgiving holiday, officials said.
A second Guard member, 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, remains in critical condition.
Source: BBC
