State Department ‘immediately’ halts all Afghan passport visas following deadly National Guard attack
State Department ‘immediately’ halts all Afghan passport visas following deadly National Guard attack
Rahmanullah Lakanwal charged with first-degree murder in alleged ambush that killed 20-year-old National Guard Spc. Sarah Beckstrom
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The Department of State has paused all visas for individuals traveling on Afghan passports after an attack in Washington, D.C., Wednesday targeting National Guard members.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an Afghan national, was charged with first-degree murder among other counts related to the ambush, which has since claimed the life of West Virginia National Guard Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and critically wounded U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24.
Lakanwal was vetted by the CIA in Afghanistan and granted final asylum approval under President Donald Trump’s administration earlier this year, multiple sources told Fox News Digital.
“The Department of State has IMMEDIATELY paused visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passports,” the agency wrote in an announcement on social media. “The Department is taking all necessary steps to protect U.S. national security and public safety.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the State Department will halt all Afghan passport visas. (Getty Images)
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio also took to X to share the news.
“President Trump’s State Department has paused visa issuance for ALL individuals traveling on Afghan passports,” Rubio wrote in a post. “The United States has no higher priority than protecting our nation and our people.”
U.S.-based Afghanistan allies relocation and resettlement nonprofit AfghanEvac denounced Friday’s decision, calling the administration’s move a “violation of federal law.”
“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. He is seemingly acting at the direction of President Trump and Stephen Miller, and there is no doubt this is the outcome they have been driving toward for months,” AfghanEvac President Shawn VanDiver said in a statement.
“They are using a single violent individual as cover for a policy they have long planned, turning their own intelligence failures into an excuse to punish an entire community and the veterans who served alongside them.”
VANCE’S PAST WARNINGS REIGNITE AFTER AFGHAN NATIONAL NAMED AS SUSPECT IN DC GUARD SHOOTING
Two National Guard soldiers were shot Wednesday blocks from the White House in Washington, D.C. Alleged gunman Rahmanullah Lakanwal has been charged with first-degree murder. (AP Photo/Anthony Peltier; Department of Justice)
The new policy comes less than a day after the media questioned Trump about how the attack could have taken place after successful vetting.
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