The suspect accused of shooting two National Guard members close to the White House got here to the US by means of a Biden-era program to resettle Afghan nationals referred to as Operation Allies Welcome, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated Wednesday evening.
Former President Joe Biden launched Operation Allies Welcome in August 2021 to shield susceptible Afghans in the wake of the US army withdrawal from Afghanistan and as the Taliban regained management of the nation.
Noem stated the suspect, recognized as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, arrived in the US on September 8, 2021. He utilized for asylum in 2024 and was granted it the following 12 months, underneath the Trump administration, a number of legislation enforcement officials told NCS.
Most Afghans who arrived underneath Operation Allies Welcome have been allowed to enter and stay in the US for 2 years, with no everlasting immigration standing. More than 40% of the migrants admitted in the program have been eligible for Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) as a result of they took nice dangers to assist the US, or have been associated to somebody who did, in accordance to the Department of Homeland Security.
One 12 months later, the program was renamed “Enduring Welcome,” as the US pivoted to a long-term strategy centered on serving to Afghans with SIVs and thru the current US refugee admissions program.
Over 190,000 Afghans have resettled in the US underneath each Operation Allies Welcome and Enduring Welcome, in accordance to the State Department.
In current years, the challenge of resettling Afghans has turn into politically fraught, and software processing has slowed, leaving hundreds of susceptible individuals in limbo in third nations like Pakistan.
An estimated 260,000 Afghans have utilized to come to the US and are nonetheless ready, in accordance to Shawn VanDiver, president of AfghanEvac, a company which relocates and resettles Afghan individuals. Many of them are in Afghanistan and face persecution by the Taliban, he instructed NCS.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump blamed Biden’s administration for letting in “20 million unknown and unvetted foreigners” to the US and referred to as for a re-examination of every person who migrated from Afghanistan throughout the Biden presidency.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services additionally introduced it will cease processing all immigration instances associated to Afghan immigrants “indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols,” it stated in a post on X.
Since taking workplace in January, Trump has enacted sweeping adjustments to US refugee coverage and international help, chopping off hundreds of Afghans who helped the US throughout the struggle from vital sources, as NCS has reported.
All Afghans who got here to the US after the fall of Kabul have been subject to security screenings by intelligence, legislation enforcement and counterterrorism professionals. According to officials and consultants, some evacuated Afghans have been vetted a number of occasions – earlier than leaving Afghanistan and once more in transit nations before arriving in the US.
As NCS reported earlier this week, the Trump administration was already in the strategy of re-interviewing Afghan migrants who had been resettled in the US.
VanDiver urged the public not to demonize all Afghans due to the alleged decisions of 1 particular person – whose motive has not but been recognized.
“We’ve got so many people who are here, and one guy doing this does not mean that all Afghan families are troublemakers or terrorists.”