KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – U.S. authorities have arrested an Afghan national, Jaan Shah Safi, on charges of “supporting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-Khorasan (ISIS-K)” and supplying weapons to his father, described as a “militia commander” in Afghanistan.
In a press release on Wednesday, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Safi was apprehended in Virginia by officers from the Homeland Security Investigations unit of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
According to the department, Safi entered the United States in September 2021 under “Operation Allies Welcome,” the emergency evacuation program following the fall of Kabul. He later applied for Temporary Protected Status, which stalled after the US government ended TPS eligibility for Afghan arrivals.
DHS described the arrest as part of ongoing efforts to address security risks linked to Afghans admitted to the country after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. The department criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the evacuation, calling it a “national security crisis,” and noting that nearly 190,000 Afghans were admitted without full vetting.
The arrest comes amid a series of recent detentions of Afghan nationals that has intensified political debate in the United States over the vetting of those admitted after the country’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
On November 25, FBI counterterrorism agents arrested Mohammad Dawood Alokozay in Texas on allegations of making bomb threats and promoting potential attacks. The following day, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, another Afghan national, allegedly opened fire on two National Guard members in Washington, killing one and critically wounding the other.
In response to the incidents, President Donald Trump ordered a review of Afghan nationals admitted under the Biden administration. The State Department immediately paused visa issuance for Afghan passport holders, and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) suspended all immigration applications, including green card and citizenship processing, for nationals from 19 countries, including Afghanistan.
