The American Government “has suspended all asylum decisions”, The director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Joseph Edlow, announced this Saturday.
Besides, the State Department has paused the issuance of visas for all people who travel with afghan passports, The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, reported minutes earlier. This measure has “immediate” effect.
“USCIS has suspended all asylum decisions until we can ensure that each alien is investigated and evaluated to the highest possible level,” Edlow said in a post on X. “The safety of the American people is always our priority,” the message continues.
USCIS has halted all asylum decisions until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible. The safety of the American people always comes first.
— USCIS Director Joseph B. Edlow (@USCISJoe) November 28, 2025
The United States takes these measures after the president’s order Donald Trump to “stop” immigration from “third world countries” after the attack this past Wednesday in Washington by an Afghan citizen against two National Guard soldiers.
The alleged attacker is Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29. As reported this Saturday by US intelligence, he arrived in the country in 2021 in the program Operation Allies Welcome, which offered support to Afghan citizens after the US military withdrawal from the Asian country.
“Rigorous reviews” for each foreigner
Until now, the Trump Administration exhaustively investigated foreigners who wanted to enter the United States from 19 countries that the Government considers “high risk”.
The same agency had already announced on Thursday a “rigorous review” of resident cards, or green cardsof migrants from countries such as Afghanistan, Cuba, Venezuela or Haiti.
Following the shooting of two members of the National Guard, USCIS implemented additional security measures to “ensure that every alien is vetted and background checked to the fullest extent possible” in order to “more meaningfully assess whether an alien is a threat to public safety and national security,” Edlow said.
Nearly 1.5 million asylum seekers had a pending application as of December 2024, according to the latest available figures obtained by the American Immigration Council (AIC).
The United States admitted more than 100,000 refugees in 2024, during the Biden Administration, a record in 30 years. One of the first measures of the Trump Administration was to stop the Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP).
That is why he now blames his predecessor’s immigration policies for the entry of the alleged perpetrator, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, and the subsequent attack.
Visas for Afghan citizens
“President (Donald) Trump’s State Department has paused the issuance of visas for all individuals traveling with Afghan passports. The United States has no higher priority than protecting our nation and our people,” were Rubio’s words, on his social networks.
President Trump’s State Department has paused visa issuance for ALL individuals traveling on Afghan passports.
The United States has no higher priority than protecting our nation and our people. https://t.co/HuR1Lj7F9t
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) November 28, 2025
Trump had already banned in June “for national security” trips from those same countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, in addition to restricting those from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.