Washington, D.C. | November 28, 2025 :
The President Donald Trump on November 28, 2025, ordered an immediate suspension of immigration applications from Afghan nationals, following the fatal shooting of National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom in Washington, D.C. The directive, issued through an executive order from the White House, temporarily halts processing for the nearly 100,000 pending Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) cases linked to the Afghanistan war.
The move came a day after 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal—a former CIA-backed interpreter who received U.S. asylum in 2021—allegedly ambushed two National Guard members near Farragut Square on November 26. Beckstrom, a 24-year-old from West Virginia, was killed, while Specialist Andrew Wolfe, 27, from Ohio, remains in critical condition.
President Trump, speaking during a Mar-a-Lago briefing, defended the freeze, stating, “We can’t risk more betrayals like this after 20 years of chaos.”
FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed that investigators discovered evidence of Lakanwal’s online radicalization, despite his earlier security vetting.
The suspension sparked intense debate. Advocacy group No One Left Behind criticized the decision as dangerous for the 50,000 Afghans still at risk due to Taliban reprisals. Meanwhile, GOP lawmakers such as Senator Lindsey Graham called the executive order “common-sense reform to protect Americans.”
The incident rekindles concerns tied to the chaotic 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, including the Abbey Gate bombing, which killed 13 U.S. service members. As of 1:00 PM EST, vigils for Beckstrom in Huntington, West Virginia, drew over 2,000 mourners, and USCIS confirmed that approximately 5,000 SIV applications have already been paused due to the order.
