Alleged DC shooter entered via Biden resettlement effort known for rigorous vetting
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under former President Joe Biden promised to resettle Afghan allies “quickly and safely” in the United States, but multiple sources have confirmed that the D.C. National Guard shooter arrived in 2021 under the same Biden-era program.
Biden responded to the “targeted” attack in D.C. just before news broke about how the alleged attacker, 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the United States on humanitarian parole through Operation Allied Welcome. He is allowed to be in the country legally, according to DHS and FBI sources.
In 2021, amid the Afghan withdrawal fiasco, Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas vowed to resettle thousands of Afghan allies “quickly and safely” in the United States and confirmed that DHS was denying evacuees entry to the United States due to “degrading” information obtained during the vetting process.
After the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan followed by the Taliban taking over the country, the Biden administration launched a massive operation to support and resettle vulnerable Afghans, including those who have assisted U.S. troops in the past.
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Due to the rushed nature of the release, as well as wider concerns about immigration and parole policies, fears have been raised about who the country may have let in.
Mayorkas said at a September 2021 press conference that 120,000 people had been evacuated from Afghanistan since the US withdrawal began just a few months ago. The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center found that nearly 800 aircraft evacuated thousands of people over just a 17-day period in August 2021.
A defining image of Afghans chasing after an American military plane leaving Kabul amid the disastrous withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
At the time, Mayorkas announced the implementation of a robust biometric screening and screening process in both the U.S. and transit countries to ensure that every individual entering the country was appropriately screened.
In response to a question from Fox News’ Jake Gibson at the time, Mayorkas confirmed that there had already been people flagged with “derogatory information” during the review process, but did not specify the number of people flagged.
Mayorkas assured that 400 U.S. Customs and Border Patrol employees and the Transportation Security Administration would be deployed to assist. Part of the effort included removing refugees from Pentagon-designated military bases and providing them with housing and veterinary treatment before entering the United States.
This divide points to Taliban members of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. (Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu via Getty Images and Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Sources said that Lakanwal, who entered the US in September 2021 after America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, was given permission to stay in the US as part of Operation Welcome Allies. Authorities are investigating the attack as a possible act of international terrorism.
FBI officials have confirmed that two West Virginia National Guard members are in critical condition after being shot in the head during a targeted attack just blocks from the White House.
In remarks Wednesday night, President Donald Trump called Biden a “disaster president” and “the worst in the history of our country.”
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He also mocked the former president for flying Lakanwal on “those infamous flights everyone is talking about”.
“No one knew who was coming, no one knew anything about it,” Trump said of the Afghan evacuation process under Biden.
He also criticized broader parole and immigration policies under the Biden administration, claiming that Lakanwal’s “status was extended under legislation signed under President Biden.”
“This attack underscores the greatest national security threat our nation faces,” Trump added, announcing that the government “must now re-examine every alien entering our country under the Biden administration.”
Trump also appeared to recommend the death penalty for Lakanwal, saying near the end of his speech, “We will bring the perpetrator of this barbaric attack – if the bullet was going the wrong way – (unintelligible) to justice quickly and definitively.”
National Guard soldiers stand behind crime scene tape on a corner in downtown Washington, Nov. 26, 2025. Two National Guard soldiers were shot a few blocks from the White House, according to law enforcement. (Drew Angerer/AFP via Getty Images)
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Meanwhile, former President Biden responded to the tragic D.C. shooting, but his comments came before news of how the shooter entered the United States.
“Jill and I are heartbroken that two members of the National Guard were shot outside the White House,” Biden shared on X, just before news broke that the gunman had entered the country as part of his administration’s rapid resettlement program.
“Violence of any kind is unacceptable and we must all unite against it. We pray for the soldiers and their families.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment on the news that Lakanwal came to the United States as part of a Biden-era program, but did not receive a response. Attempts to reach former DHS Secretary Mayorkas were also unsuccessful at time of publication.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Kelly Laco contributed to this report.
