The Trump administration said on Wednesday that it had stopped processing immigration applications from Afghanistan, hours after officials in Washington detained an Afghan man they said had shot two National Guard troops near the White House.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services, which oversees US immigration, announced on social media late Wednesday.
The two Guard members from West Virginia were in critical condition after Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old man from Afghanistan, shot them, officials said.
The man, who was also injured, entered the US in 2021 under a Biden-era immigration programme for Afghans leaving their country after the government fell to the Taliban.
“Effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols,” the agency said on social media.
“The protection and safety of our homeland and of the American people remains our singular focus and mission.”
Earlier in the evening, President Trump, who framed the shooting as an “act of terror”, had said in a speech after the attack that “we must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan.”
The immigration pause will impact Afghan nationals trying to remain in the US by seeking asylum or obtaining a green card, among other immigration benefits extended by the agency.
It will also affect Afghans who helped the US government during the 20-year war in Afghanistan and had applied to be relocated to the US through the Special Immigrant Visa programme.
New York Times News Service