U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has halted all asylum decisions, the agency's director, Joseph Edlow, said on Friday after an Afghan immigrant was accused of ambushing National Guard members.
"USCIS has halted all asylum decisions until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible. The safety of the American people always comes first.," Edlow said on X.
The Afghan man accused of shooting two National Guard members in Washington, killing one, will face first-degree murder charges. The attack has also prompted US President Donald Trump to declare he would stop migrants from "Third World Countries."
In a late-night post to his Truth Social platform on Thursday, Trump said his administration would "permanently pause" migration from all "Third World Countries."
When asked for a list of the countries, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security pointed to the 19 countries covered by Trump's existing travel ban - 12 of which already face complete bans, including Afghanistan.
US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said on Fox News on Friday that other charges would be filed against 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who she said ambushed the soldiers from the West Virginia National Guard near the White House on Wednesday.
Formal charges were not immediately filed against Lakanwal, who had been in the U.S. since 2021 under a program of then-President Joe Biden's administration to resettle Afghans who helped the U.S. during the war in their homeland. He was granted asylum under Trump.
In a call on Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday with U.S. military service members, Trump said the shootings were a "terrorist attack."