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the person accused Shooting of two National Guard members Near the White House on Wednesday night to assist Afghan nationals entering the country through Operation Ally’s Welcome, a resettlement program.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the suspect – an Afghan man identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal – came to the US in 2021. She later applied for asylum in 2024, which was approved this year under the Trump administration.
America now has Suspended all Afghan immigration requests In response to shots fired outside a subway station in downtown Washington, DC, in what authorities described as a targeted ambush. The condition of two guard members still remains critical.
In a televised address from Mar-a-Lago, Trump condemned the attack – a day before Thanksgiving celebrations were to begin – calling it a “crime against humanity.”
In a post on Truth Social, Trump called the shooter an “animal,” warning that he would pay a “heaviest price.”
on wednesday, Trump lashed out Former President Joe Biden’s administration was accused of allowing “20 million undocumented and undocumented aliens” into the United States through the Operation Ally’s Welcome program. However, this figure appears to be a gross exaggeration.
What was Operation Ally’s Welcome?
The plan was launched in August 2021 during Biden’s presidency, following the chaos of the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan and the return of the Taliban to power.
The goal of the program was to provide protection and resettlement for vulnerable Afghans, including a significant proportion eligible for Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) because they had taken significant risks to help US operations in Afghanistan, or were related to someone who had done so.
At that time, the Biden administration Said The US government is “working around the clock to conduct security screening and screening of vulnerable Afghans before they are allowed entry into the United States, consistent with the dual goals of protecting national security and providing security to our Afghan allies”.
“Like any population entering the United States, DHS, in coordination with interagency investigative partners, takes a number of steps to ensure that people seeking entry do not pose a national security or public safety risk.”
A year later the program was renamed Operation Enduring Welcome, as the plan shifted to a more long-term approach and focused on assisting Afghans with SIV, or helping others using other refugee and immigration programs.
As of August 2021, more than 190,000 Afghans have resettled in the United States through Enduring Welcome and Operation Ally’s Welcome. According to the State Department,
Another 260,000 people have applied through the programs and are still waiting, according to estimates by AfghanistanEvac, an organization that relocates and resettles Afghan people.
Enduring Welcome is scheduled to close by the end of 2025, although processing has been slow, leaving many Afghans with active applications for relocation stuck in Afghanistan, where they may face reprisals, or in third countries such as Pakistan where their safety is not guaranteed.
How was the suspect involved in this scheme?
Lakanwal arrived in the US on September 8, 2021, through the Operation Ally’s Welcome scheme.
Most people who arrived in the US through Operation Ellie’s Welcome were granted entry and then allowed to remain in the country for two years, but were not granted any permanent immigration status.
Lakanwal then applied for asylum in 2024, which was approved the following year under the Trump administration.
After the DC shooting, Trump Demanded a thorough re-investigation Every Afghan immigrant who has entered the United States through the programs.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services said immigration requests have been put on hold “indefinitely” pending a review of “security and screening protocols”.
“The safety and security of our homeland and the American people is our sole focus and mission,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a post on Twitter.
One of the two soldiers shot has been named As for Andrew Wolfe of West Virginia, who is reportedly undergoing surgery and remains in critical condition.
Before Thanksgiving, Trump administration has ordered to send 500 more National Guardsmen to Washington DC