Trump says US must ‘reexamine’ all Afghan nationals admitted under Biden administration

President Donald Trump called for a “review” of all Afghan nationals who came to the United States under the Biden administration, hours after an Afghan was named as a suspect in the shootings of two National Guard members in Washington, DC.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on

“We must now reexamine every foreigner who entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden,” Trump said in a speech Wednesday night in which he called the shooting “an act of terror.”

Shortly after his remarks, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it was suspending immigration processing from Afghanistan to the United States.

“Effective immediately, the processing of all immigration applications involving Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and screening protocols,” the agency, known as USCIS, said on X.

The two National Guard members, originally from West Virginia and deployed to Washington, were shot and killed by a gunman around 2:15 p.m. They were in critical condition Wednesday, officials said. The suspect was also shot — and was still under investigation — and was hospitalized, according to police.

Authorities have not detailed the motive, if one is known, but D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said “this was a targeted shooting” and that the suspect appeared to be targeting Guard members.

The suspect was identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, of Bellingham, Washington, four senior law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation told NBC News.

A relative of Lakanwal told NBC News on Wednesday that Lakanwal arrived in the United States in September 2021 after serving in the Afghan army for 10 years, alongside U.S. special forces.

Lakanwal was stationed at a base in Kandahar for part of that time, his relative said. He arrived in the United States after the Taliban returned to power following the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces in August 2021 and eventually settled in Washington state.

“We were the ones targeted by the Taliban in Afghanistan,” said this relative. “I can’t believe he could do that.”

A source familiar with the case and another law enforcement source told NBC News that the suspect was granted asylum this year.

The details of what a review of Afghans already in the United States and arriving under the Biden administration would look like were not immediately clear Wednesday evening.

A Trump administration memo released Friday, seen Tuesday by NBC News, called for a review of all refugees admitted to the United States under the Biden administration — which could affect 200,000 people.

The memo calls for a “full review and reinterview of all refugees admitted between January 20, 2021 and February 20, 2025,” including U.S. green card holders. It cites a USCIS finding that the Biden administration “potentially prioritized timeliness, quantity, and admissions over quality interviews and detailed screening and vetting.”

The San Diego-based Afghan advocacy group #AfghanEvac, which works to ensure Afghans who have helped the United States are not abandoned in the wake of the Taliban takeover, said Wednesday’s shooting should not be used to punish Afghans in the United States.

“Afghan immigrants and war allies who resettle in the United States are subject to some of the most extensive security screenings of any population entering the country,” Shawn VanDiver, the group’s president, said in a statement.

“This individual’s isolated and violent act should not be used as an excuse to define or diminish an entire community,” he added.

The Department of Homeland Security resettled more than 80,000 Afghan refugees in the United States before or immediately after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the subsequent takeover by the Taliban. But many others who wanted to leave were left behind.

The State Department’s Office of Inspector General said in a June 2023 report that as of March of that year, 152,091 Afghan “special immigrant visa” applicants in Afghanistan were awaiting processing. The visa is intended for Afghans who were employed by or on behalf of the United States.

Afghan immigrants and refugees, including those who aided the U.S. military during 20 years of war, were virtually barred from entering the United States during Trump’s second term.

On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order suspending all refugee resettlement in the United States until admissions were consistent with “the interests of the United States.” Thousands of Afghan refugees, many already approved for resettlement in the United States, are stranded in Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries, and in some cases have been forcibly repatriated.

The Trump administration also ended protections that allowed Afghans to temporarily live and work in the United States due to unsafe conditions in their country. The White House says those protections are no longer necessary because it is now safe to return to Afghanistan, which is experiencing multiple humanitarian crises and which Trump described as “hell” in his speech Wednesday.

Advocates say Afghans who have worked with the United States risk persecution, torture or death if they return to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and face extensive screening before arriving in the United States.

Trump has said he is committed to helping Afghans who have worked with the U.S. military, saying in August that “we know the good ones and the ones who maybe aren’t.”