KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The United States has suspended the issuance of visas for Afghan passport holders following a deadly shooting near the White House involving an Afghan national, the State Department announced Friday.
In a statement posted on X, the State Department said it had “immediately paused visa issuance for individuals travelling on Afghan passports” and was taking “all necessary steps to protect U.S. national security and public safety”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio shared the State Department’s announcement on X, saying the United States had “no higher priority than protecting our nation and our people.”
The policy shift follows Wednesday’s shooting in Washington, D.C., in which an Afghan national, 29-year-old Rahmatullah Lakanwal, allegedly opened fire on two West Virginia National Guard members near the White House. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom later died of her injuries, while Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains in critical condition.
Lakanwal, who arrived in the United States in 2021, previously served for ten years in the Afghan army, including multiple deployments alongside US Special Forces in Kandahar. According to US officials, he was vetted by the CIA in Afghanistan and received final approval for asylum earlier this year under President Donald Trump’s administration.
Following the shooting, President Trump ordered a full review of Afghan citizens admitted to the United States during the Biden administration. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) later confirmed it would halt processing of Afghan immigration and asylum applications without a timeline for resumption.
Refugee advocacy groups, UN officials, and human rights activists have voiced concern over the sweeping measures, saying the United States should not penalize an entire refugee population for the actions of one individual.
AfghanEvac, a US-based nonprofit focused on resettling “Afghan allies,” called the move a “violation of federal law” and said it “unfairly punishes” thousands of Afghans who assisted the U.S. during its decades-long operations in Afghanistan.
“It appears Secretary Rubio is attempting to shut down the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program in direct violation of federal law and standing court orders,” AfghanEvac President Shawn VanDiver said. “They are using a single violent individual as cover for a policy they have long planned.”
Meanwhile, UN agencies have urged Washington to continue granting asylum seekers access to US immigration procedures and to ensure they receive full due process, following President Trump’s announcement that he would “permanently pause” migration from “Third World” countries.
“We expect all countries, including the United States, to honor their commitments under the 1953 Refugee Convention,” Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, told Reuters.
UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said that individuals fleeing persecution “are entitled to protection under international law, and that should be given due process.”
Richard Bennett, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, warned against collective punishment, stating, “Afghan communities must not be punished due to the actions of one individual. That would be terribly unjust and complete nonsense.”
The World Hazara Council USA, representing the Hazara community in the United States, a historically persecuted ethnic group in Afghanistan, condemned the attack while raising concern over the risk of stigmatizing or endangering entire refugee and immigrant communities.
“We strongly support a thorough, transparent, and fact-based investigation to ensure justice is served under the law, accountability is essential, but justice and humanity can-and must-coexist,” the council said in a statement.
The visa suspension and halt in immigration processing affect thousands of Afghans waiting in third countries for relocation to the United States, including former interpreters, contractors, and civil society workers who assisted American forces over two decades of conflict. Many remain at risk under Taliban rule or are stranded in neighboring countries with limited legal protections.
