US pauses visas for all Afghan passport holders, suspends asylum decisions

The US State Department has announced it has paused issuing visas to anyone travelling on an Afghan passport, citing public safety concerns amid the Trump administration’s intensified immigration crackdown following the attack on two National Guard members.

The decision was announced Friday, alongside a separate move by US immigration authorities to halt all asylum rulings until further notice.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X that visa issuance for “ALL individuals traveling on Afghan passports” had been paused. The measures follow the naming of Afghan national Rahmanaullah Lakanwal as the suspect in Wednesday’s shooting in Washington, DC, which killed National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom and left Andrew Wolfe critically injured.

Authorities allege Lakanwal ambushed the Guardsmen near the White House. Beckstrom, 20, died Thursday night, while Wolfe, 24, remains in critical condition. The CIA confirmed this week that Lakanwal previously worked for the agency in Afghanistan before moving to the US under the 2021 “Operation Allies Welcome” programme.

US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said Friday that charges against Lakanwal had been upgraded to first-degree murder and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed.

In a separate announcement, USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said all asylum decisions had been paused to ensure “maximum” vetting. He also revealed he had begun a “full-scale, rigorous re-examination” of every green card issued to individuals from “countries of concern” at President Trump’s direction.

The administration’s latest steps mark a further tightening of US immigration policy. Trump, who labeled the Washington shooting a “terrorist attack”, has repeatedly criticized the Biden-era programmes that enabled Afghan allies to resettle in the United States.

On Thursday, Trump ordered a review of green card applications from 19 “countries of concern” and signaled plans to suspend immigration from what he termed “Third World countries”. He also pledged to deport non-citizens deemed security risks or “non-compatible with Western civilization”.

Since returning to office in January, Trump has imposed several restrictive immigration measures, including setting a refugee admissions cap of just 7,500 for 2026 — the lowest since 1980.