By Harshit
WASHINGTON, NOVEMBER 29 —
The Trump administration has suspended all asylum decisions nationwide, an unprecedented move that comes two days after the deadly shooting of two National Guard soldiers near the White House — an attack officials say was carried out by an Afghan national who entered the United States in 2021 under a special protection program.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow announced the halt Friday, saying the pause would remain in place “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.” The directive, issued quietly to asylum officers across the country, freezes decisions for all nationalities, making it one of the most sweeping immigration actions of Trump’s second term.
The suspension came just hours after President Donald Trump vowed to “permanently pause migration from all Third World countries”, pledging a dramatic escalation of his already aggressive immigration crackdown. The president’s statement signaled a shift toward policies that could affect millions of migrants, asylum seekers, and lawful residents.
A Rapid Cascade of Immigration Actions After the DC Attack
Wednesday’s shooting — which killed 20-year-old National Guard Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and critically injured Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe — immediately became a national flashpoint. Officials say the suspected gunman, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is an Afghan national who came to the US through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden-era initiative to protect Afghans who worked alongside US forces during the Afghanistan war.
In the 48 hours that followed, the Trump administration initiated a series of far-reaching actions:
• Halt on Afghan visa processing
Soon after the shooting, the administration suspended all visa requests from Afghan nationals pending a full review.
• Suspension of all Afghan immigration cases
DHS then issued a directive stopping all Afghan immigration requests — not only visas, but humanitarian parole and asylum inquiries — until further notice.
• Review of green cards from 19 countries
USCIS announced it would re-examine all green cards issued to immigrants from 19 “countries of concern,” including Afghanistan, Somalia, Haiti, Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela. Details of how the reviews will be carried out have not been released.
• Nationwide halt on all asylum decisions
Friday’s directive from Edlow is the broadest yet: asylum officers must continue processing files but cannot approve, deny, or close any case.
The agency has provided no timeframe for when decisions may resume.
Trump: Refugees Are Fueling “Social Dysfunction in America”
In a Thursday night post, Trump blamed refugees for “social dysfunction” and renewed his pledge to deport anyone he considers “not a net asset” to the United States. He also said Minnesota — home to a large Somali community — had been “taken over” by refugees.
He vowed to:
- End all federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens
- Deny automatic birthright citizenship to many US-born children
- Deport anyone deemed a “security risk” or “non-compatible with Western civilization”
- Undertake mass removals of undocumented migrants across the US
Immigration attorneys say the legal challenges to these moves will be immediate and intense.
UN and Legal Experts Warn of Violations
The United Nations Refugee Agency urged Washington to honor international asylum obligations.
Jeremy McKinney, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, called Trump’s response “scapegoating”, warning against assigning collective blame before motive is known.
“These issues don’t know skin color, they don’t know nationality,” McKinney said.
What We Know About the Suspect
According to multiple US officials:
- Rahmanullah Lakanwal entered the US on September 8, 2021.
- He was a member of an elite “Zero Unit” in Afghanistan — a paramilitary group that worked directly with the CIA.
- He passed multiple rounds of US vetting before and after his relocation.
- He applied for asylum in 2024 and was granted asylum in April 2025 under the Trump administration.
- His green card application remains pending.
A childhood friend told US media Lakanwal had shown signs of psychological distress after years of combat and covert operations.
His alleged motive for the shooting remains unknown.
Nationwide Impact: “Unprecedented,” Experts Say
Immigration analysts note that the immediate freeze on all asylum decisions could affect more than one million pending cases, leaving applicants — including families, torture survivors, and political dissidents — in limbo.
Legal scholars say the US has never before suspended asylum decisions for every nationality at once, even after major national security crises.
The halt could also create years-long backlogs that exceed the system’s current capacity.