Vance’s Afghan refugee vetting warnings resurface after DC shooting
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Vice President J.D. Vance has long warned about the U.S. refugee vetting process, dating back to the 2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and the refugees arriving in its wake. Now, Vance’s previous remarks on the subject are resurfacing following the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington on Wednesday.
Law enforcement identified the suspect who was shot as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, who legally entered the United States in 2021 as part of the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome program, which aims to help resettle Afghan refugees in the United States.
In 2021, Vance posted a video on social media in response to then-Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., argued that the United States has an obligation to help refugees who want to leave Afghanistan.
“Yes, let’s help the Afghans who are helping us, but let’s make sure we vet them properly so we don’t end up with a bunch of people who believe they should blow themselves up at the mall because someone looked at their wife wrong,” Vance said. Marine Corps veteran, he said in the video clip.
Vice President J.D. Vance has long been warning about the refugee vetting process in the United States. (Evan Vucci/Associated Press)
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Vance also claimed that a Pew Research Center survey found that four in 10 Afghans believe suicide attacks are justified to protect Islam.
Fox News Digital could not independently verify the existence of the poll. However, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, an American government-funded media outlet, reported the same statistics in a 2013 survey.
Vance’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Afghanistan’s top religious leaders, who form the Afghan Ulema Council, have previously issued Islamic decrees banning suicide attacks and claimed that such attacks are not in line with Islamic teachings.
More recently, Vance expressed similar concerns in a January interview with CBS’ Margaret Brennan, saying: “We have vetting problems with a lot of these refugee programs, we certainly can’t release thousands of unvetted people into our country.”
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Undated file photo of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, November 26, 2025. (Ministry of Justice)
Vance specifically noted Nasser Ahmad Tawhedi, an Afghan national who was accused at the time of planning a terrorist attack on or around Election Day 2024. Tevhedi has since pleaded guilty to two terrorism-related charges in June.
According to the Department of Justice, Tevhedi and his accomplice Abdullah Haji Zada, also from Afghanistan, were arrested on October 7, 2024, after purchasing firearms and ammunition from undercover FBI agents. Court documents allege the duo purchased two AK-47 rifles, 500 rounds of ammunition and 10 magazines with the intention of carrying out a mass-casualty attack inside the United States
Zada, 19, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison in early November.
Vance referenced comments he made in 2021 on Wednesday following the shooting in Washington and signaled future action to tighten the vetting process for refugees.
“I remember criticizing Biden’s policy of opening the floodgates to unchecked Afghan refugees in 2021,” Vance said Wednesday. “My friends sent me messages saying I was a racist. It was a revealing moment.”
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“Many of our voters will demand action, not just words, and this is an entirely appropriate response,” Vance said Wednesday. he said. “First we will bring the attacker to justice, then we must redouble our efforts to deport people who have no right to live in our country.”
U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died Thursday from injuries sustained in the Wednesday shooting, and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said Andrew Wolfe’s condition is critical.
Fox News Digital first reported that Lakenwal had partnered with the U.S. government, including the CIA, as a member of a joint force in Afghanistan.
File photo of Sarah Beckstrom, a National Guard officer who died following a shooting in Washington, DC, on the evening of November 26, 2025. (Ministry of Justice)
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In response to the attack, Trump said in a social media post on Thursday that he would permanently pause immigration from “all Third World Countries.”
Additionally, Joseph Edlow, head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said Thursday that under Trump’s orders he is “directing a full-scale, rigorous re-examination of every Green Card for every alien from every applicable country.”
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The White House did not provide additional information about which countries would be affected and referred Fox News Digital to Trump’s social media post.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
