The State Department has swiftly put an end to all visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passports following a deadly National Guard attack in Washington D.C.
The move comes after a 29-year-old Afghan national named Rahmanullah Lakanwal was charged with first-degree murder and other counts related to the ambush that resulted in the death of West Virginia National Guard Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and critically wounded U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24.
Lakanwal had been vetted by the CIA in Afghanistan and granted final asylum approval under President Donald Trump's administration earlier this year. However, his asylum was not enough to shield him from being identified as a suspect in the deadly attack.
In a statement on social media, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Department of State has paused all visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passports, citing a need to protect U.S. national security and public safety.
However, relocation and resettlement nonprofit AfghanEvac has denounced the decision as a "violation of federal law" and an attempt by the administration to punish an entire community and veterans who served alongside them.
The move comes less than 24 hours after media questioned Trump about how the attack could have occurred despite successful vetting. When asked about the incident, Trump shrugged it off, saying that those with mental health issues can become violent at any time.
The move comes after a 29-year-old Afghan national named Rahmanullah Lakanwal was charged with first-degree murder and other counts related to the ambush that resulted in the death of West Virginia National Guard Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and critically wounded U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24.
Lakanwal had been vetted by the CIA in Afghanistan and granted final asylum approval under President Donald Trump's administration earlier this year. However, his asylum was not enough to shield him from being identified as a suspect in the deadly attack.
In a statement on social media, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Department of State has paused all visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passports, citing a need to protect U.S. national security and public safety.
However, relocation and resettlement nonprofit AfghanEvac has denounced the decision as a "violation of federal law" and an attempt by the administration to punish an entire community and veterans who served alongside them.
The move comes less than 24 hours after media questioned Trump about how the attack could have occurred despite successful vetting. When asked about the incident, Trump shrugged it off, saying that those with mental health issues can become violent at any time.
I don't think this is a good idea to ban visas for Afghan passports altogether... I get why they want to protect national security and public safety but it feels like a blanket statement to me 
. Rahmanullah Lakanwal was clearly a bad egg, but does that mean the entire Afghan community deserves this kind of punishment? 
It's like targeting an entire family for one person's actions... I'm worried about people who were vetted and granted asylum being unfairly caught up in this decision too 
. What if there are more Rahmanullah Lakanwals out there? We need to be careful not to discriminate against innocent people 
.
this is so messed up lol like what even is the criteria for getting asylum in the first place? if you're gonna grant him asylum then shouldn't he have been vetted way more thoroughly before being sent back to the US 
anyway, it's not like Rahmanullah was a complete stranger, he'd already been around for 3 years on Afghan soil and had connections with the CIA too 
also can we talk about how Trump handled this whole thing? "those with mental health issues can become violent at any time"? that's not a solution, dude 
. I get that national security is important, but we can't just blanket everyone from Afghanistan under the same rulebook, you know? 
I mean, we need to be talking about ways to help people who are struggling with their minds, not just labeling them as violent and moving on 
. It feels like they're overreacting and painting an entire community with the same brush 
. The fact that a vetted individual can still end up committing such a heinous crime is a sad reminder of our country's vulnerabilities, but isn't it more productive to address those vulnerabilities through targeted programs rather than blanket restrictions? 
. But seriously, how hard is it to vet someone when you've got CIA approval? It sounds like the vetting process was just a formality... until something went wrong