State Department pauses Afghan visas after D.C. attack kills Guard member

The State Department has paused all visas for people traveling with Afghan passports following Wednesday’s attack targeting National Guard members in Washington, D.C.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an Afghan national, was charged with first-degree murder, among other charges, in the ambush that claimed the life of West Virginia Army National Guard Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and critically injured U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24.

Lakanwal was reviewed by the CIA in Afghanistan and given final asylum approval under President Donald Trump’s administration earlier this year, multiple sources told Fox News Digital.

“The State Department has IMMEDIATELY paused the issuance of visas for persons traveling with Afghan passports,” the agency said in an announcement on social media. he wrote. “The Department is taking all necessary steps to protect U.S. national security and public safety.”

SAFETY FORCES ARE INTERVENING IN CASE OF 2 NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS SHOT NEAR THE WHITE HOUSE

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also took to X to share the news.

“President Trump’s State Department has paused visa issuance to ALL individuals traveling with Afghan passports,” Rubio said in a post. “The United States has no higher priority than protecting our nation and our people.”

AfghanEvac, a U.S.-based nonprofit focused on relocation and resettlement of Afghanistan allies, condemned Friday’s decision and called the administration’s move a “violation of federal law.”

“Secretary Rubio appears to be attempting to shut down the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program in direct violation of federal law and valid court orders. He appears to be acting at the direction of President Trump and Stephen Miller, and there is no doubt that this is the outcome they have been aiming for for months,” AfghanEvac President Shawn VanDiver said in a statement. he said.

“They are using a single violent individual as cover for a long-planned policy, turning their own intelligence failures into an excuse to punish an entire community and the veterans who served alongside them.”

VANCE’S PAST WARNINGS RESTARTED AFTER AFGHAN NATIONAL WAS TAKEN AS A SUSPECT IN DC SECURITY SHOT

Two National Guard soldiers were shot a few blocks from the White House in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. The alleged gunman, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was charged with first-degree murder. (AP Photo/Anthony Peltier; Department of Justice)

The new policy comes less than a day after the media questioned Trump about how the attack could have occurred following a successful investigation.

“I mean, he went crazy and that happens. It happens so often with these people,” Trump told reporters from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. “There’s been no investigation or anything like that. … There’s a lot of other people in this country and we’re going to get them out, but they’re being cuckolded. Something’s happening to them.”

“When it comes to asylum, once they’re flown in, it’s very hard to get them out. No matter how you want to do it, it’s very hard to get them out. But now we’re going to get them all out,” Trump said. he said.

National Guard members Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, were shot in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. Beckstrom died in the hospital on Thursday. (United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph B. Edlow also announced in a statement on Thursday that, upon Trump’s instruction, every green card issued to immigrants from “every relevant country” will be “fully reviewed, rigorously”.

The 19 countries considered “high risk” by USCIS include Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.