National Guard Shooting Near White House Halts Asylum Decisions

The tragic shooting incident involving two members of the West Virginia National Guard in Washington, D.C., has led to significant shifts in U.S. immigration policy. On November 28, 2025, Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, aged 20, was killed, and Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, 24, was critically injured during an ambush-style attack near a downtown Metro station.

President Trump confirmed Beckstrom's death and described the shooting as a terrorist attack, emphasizing the need for stricter immigration controls. The alleged shooter, identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, entered the U.S. in September 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome and had been a member of a CIA-backed Afghan military unit known for its controversial operations during the Afghanistan War.

Following the incident, the Trump administration issued a directive halting all asylum decisions and paused visa issuance for Afghan nationals. The State Department's Secretary, Marco Rubio, announced on his social media that the visa pause was a necessary action to protect national security.

This decision came as the suspect, who has been charged with first-degree murder, was reported to have suffered from mental health challenges, including paranoia regarding his immigration status. Investigators are looking into the suspect's background, including his service with the CIA-linked Afghan 'Zero Units' and his experiences of PTSD.

The internal memo from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services indicated that asylum officers were instructed to cease processing asylum applications following the shooting, a move critics argue unfairly punishes a broader community based on the actions of one individual.

Asylum claims from those with Afghan passports will face increased scrutiny as the administration seeks to reassure the public regarding the vetting of immigrants. With the immigration pause, the Trump administration aims to tighten controls in response to the shooting, which it has framed as a failure of the previous administration’s immigration policies.

The National Guard members were deployed as part of an ongoing effort to combat crime in D.C., a move that has garnered mixed reactions from local officials and the public. The investigation into the shooting continues, with authorities examining potential motivations and connections, including a possible link to extremist ideologies, although initial findings have not suggested any direct coordination with known terrorist groups.

The ramifications of this tragic incident extend beyond the immediate attack, reflecting the ongoing tension at the intersection of national security and immigration policy in the United States.