Trump administration on Friday ordered US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officers to stop making all asylum decisions, following the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, DC. The pause comes after Wednesday’s attack, which officials say was carried out by an Afghan man who received asylum earlier this year. One of the soldiers has died. The suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the US in 2021 under the Biden administration’s humanitarian parole programme and was granted asylum this spring. The order affects all nationalities and covers “affirmative” asylum cases handled by USCIS. Officers were told to continue interviews and case reviews, but stop at the point where a decision would normally be entered. In-person appointments scheduled for Monday, where applicants receive final decisions, were also cancelled. In a statement to CBS News, USCIS director Joe Edlow confirmed the decision. He said, “USCIS has halted all asylum decisions until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible,” Edlow said. “The safety of the American people always comes first.”
The move is part of a wider set of immigration actions announced after the shooting. Earlier, the administration paused the processing of all legal immigration applications from Afghan nationals, including green cards, citizenship and work permits. USCIS has also begun a detailed review of green card cases involving people from 19 countries listed under a presidential proclamation issued in June. Late on Thursday, president Trump said he intended to “permanently pause migration from all third world countries.” He also said his administration would revoke the citizenship of those it considers a threat to “domestic tranquillity” and deport any foreign national viewed as a security risk or “non-compatible with Western civilisation.”
