By Gonzalez Olivieri, on Immigration Updates
Following a shooting in Washington, D.C. in which an Afghan national fatally shot a National Guard member, the Trump administration halted all asylum decisions. USCIS Director Joseph Edlow announced the pause, stating the agency would suspend decisions "until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible." The Department of Homeland Security also halted all immigration requests from Afghanistan and began reviewing all asylum cases approved under the Biden administration, while the State Department paused visa issuance for all Afghan passport holders.
The suspect, identified as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the United States in 2021 during the Biden administration but was granted asylum in April 2025 under the Trump administration. President Trump announced plans to "permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries," though he did not specify which nations would be affected, and the administration directed a review of asylum cases and green card cases approved under the previous administration.
For more information on this, and other immigration matters, contact the attorneys at Gonzalez Olivieri LLC today.
Reference:
USCIS Pauses All Asylum Decisions Due to Trump Administration Orders After DC Shooting, NBC NEWS (Nov. 28, 2025), https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/uscis-pauses-all-asylum-decisions-due-to-trump-administration-orders-after-dc-shooting/ar-AA1RmlY3.
