The White House has been rocked by a major security scandal after it was revealed that the Trump administration had approved the asylum application of the Afghan suspect accused of shooting two National Guard members. Rahmanullah Lakanwal allegedly shot two West Virginia National Guard soldiers on Wednesday, just 800 yards from the White House.
Authorities matched his fingerprints, and it was revealed that Lakanwal had arrived in the U.S. after fleeing Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover in 2021. It has now emerged that the 29-year-old applied for asylum in 2024, and his request was approved in April by the Department of Homeland Security under the Trump administration, according to CNN.
Trump Proved Wrong
The Biden administration first allowed Lakanwal to enter the U.S. in September 2021 as a refugee through Operation Allies Welcome. A White House official told the Daily Mail that Lakanwal could not have been deported because he was in the country on parole status.
"This Afghan national was paroled into the U.S. by the Biden Admin," the White House official said.
"After that, Joe Biden signed into law that parole program, and entered into the 2023 Ahmed Court Settlement, which bound USCIS to adjudicate his asylum claim on an expedited bases. Regardless of asylum status, this monster would not have been removed due to his parole status, granted by Joe Biden."
The suspect drove across the country from his home in Bellingham, Washington, where he lived with his wife and five children near the Canadian border.
The two National Guard soldiers, Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, remain in critical condition after surgery.
Last night, Trump addressed the nation, blaming Biden and calling for a review of "every single Afghan who has entered our country."
CIA Director John Ratcliffe revealed that Lakanwal had worked with the agency during his time alongside U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan, where he was an elite commander.
Lakanwal's ID card reportedly lists him as a commander in Unit 01, an elite force within the former Afghan government's National Directorate of Security, according to The Telegraph.
Blame Game Continues
The office responsible for reviewing asylum applications is the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Hours after the shooting, USCIS announced it would indefinitely suspend immigration requests for all Afghan nationals, pending a review of security and vetting protocols.
Just days before the attack, a memo from USCIS Director Joseph Edlow revealed that the Trump administration planned a comprehensive review, including re-interviews, of all refugees admitted under Biden.
"He was flown in by the Biden administration in September 2021, on those infamous flights that everybody was talking about," Trump said during his nationwide address.
Intelligence officials said that Lakanwal had worked with multiple U.S. government agencies, including the CIA, due to his previous experience as a member of a partner force in Kandahar.
"Nobody knew who was coming in. Nobody knew anything about it. His status was extended under legislation signed by President Biden, a disastrous President, the worst in the history of our country," Trump said.
"If they can't love our country, we don't want them. America will never bend and never yield in the face of terror. And at the same time, we will not be deterred from the mission the service members were so nobly fulfilling."
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversaw the office that granted Lakanwal asylum earlier this year, joined Trump in blaming Biden.
"The suspect who shot our brave National Guardsmen is an Afghan national who was one of many unvetted individuals paroled into the United States under the Biden Administration," Noem wrote on X.
