Afghans arrive to begin in-processing during the State Department-led Operation Allies Welcome at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., in 2021. (Jessica Sanchez-Chen/Operation Allies Welcome-Operation Allies Refuge)
Afghans who assisted U.S. forces during the 20-year Afghan War still should be given the chance to enter the country, advocates say, condemning the State Department’s decision to stop issuing visas after the arrest of an Afghan national accused of shooting two National Guard members in Washington last week.
The shooting, which killed Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and critically wounded Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, has renewed scrutiny of a Biden-era program to evacuate Afghans who provided assistance to U.S. diplomats and military personnel in Afghanistan.
Following a social media post from President Donald Trump where he vowed to “permanently pause” migration from “Third World Countries,” the State Department on Friday said that it immediately would stop issuing visas for individuals traveling on Afghan passports, which includes those applying for special immigrant visas as part of the relocation program.
The announcement drew immediate ire from advocates who said the administration is using one incident to justify targeting all Afghan allies, who are vetted thoroughly and deserve protection from the Taliban.
“They are using a single violent individual as cover for a policy they have long planned, turning their own intelligence failures into an excuse to punish an entire community and the veterans who served alongside them,” said Shawn VanDiver, president of #AfghanEvac, in a statement Friday.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the 29-year-old Afghan man accused of the shooting, served in a CIA-backed counterterrorism unit during the war.
He was one of more than 190,000 Afghans who have entered the U.S. under Operation Allies Welcome and its successor, Operation Enduring Welcome, according to the State Department. The programs were established in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan to support the interpreters, drivers, engineers, fixers and logistics specialists who had worked alongside U.S. partners during the war.
Lakanwal initially entered the U.S. under humanitarian parole in 2021 and underwent recurring vetting as a parolee while he pursued a special immigrant visa, according to #AfghanEvac. He also applied for asylum under the Biden administration and his application was approved in April, under the Trump administration.
In the months leading up to the shooting, community members in the Washington state area where Lakanwal lived said he was suffering from deteriorating mental health, struggling to hold down a job and adjust to life in the U.S., according to reporting from the Associated Press.
Although investigators are still working to determine a motive, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that officials believe he was “radicalized since he’s been here in the country.”
Trump and other Republicans long have criticized the relocation programs for Afghan allies, saying they allowed tens of thousands of “unvetted and unchecked” people to enter the country.
Since returning to office, Trump has moved to dismantle the legal pathways for the Afghans’ entry to the U.S., including defunding Operation Enduring Welcome and stopping all refugee processing.
The new policies virtually have halted the relocation pipeline, leaving hundreds of thousands of Afghans stranded around the world, advocates say. Among those stuck in limbo are more than 3,000 family members of active duty service members, according to #AfghanEvac.
An audit from the Justice Department’s inspector general, published in June, found that the FBI effectively screened tens of thousands of Afghan evacuees who came to the U.S. immediately following the collapse of the Kabul government.
Although the need for rapid evacuation increased the potential for bad actors to exploit the system, the inspector general said the Pentagon, State Department and U.S. intelligence community were able to establish a unique, multi-layered vetting system that properly identified and protected against potential threats.
“Our hearts are absolutely broken for our Afghan allies, who have already endured more trauma, loss, and sacrifice than most Americans can imagine,” VanDiver, the president of #AfghanEvac, said in a statement Friday. “They should not have to live in fear because powerful officials see political advantage in undermining their path to safety.”
