Guard Shooting Prompts New Push to Tighten Afghan Resettlement as Experts Defend Vetting

Summary: Following the shooting of two National Guard members by an Afghan national, U.S. officials have moved to tighten resettlement and visa rules for Afghan nationals. Experts and advocates say evacuees were among the most thoroughly vetted entrants and warn that the incident highlights integration and social support challenges rather than wholesale screening failures.

What happened

Twenty-nine-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 20-year-old Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and with shooting 24-year-old Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, who remains in critical condition. Lakanwal was resettled to the United States through post-evacuation programs for Afghans who assisted U.S. personnel during the war.

Resettlement programs and vetting

Evacuation efforts after the fall of Kabul initially operated under Operations Allies Welcome, which brought roughly 76,000 Afghans to the United States. That effort later transitioned into a longer-term program, Operation Enduring Welcome. Combined, both initiatives have resettled nearly 200,000 Afghans in the U.S., many of whom had worked as interpreters, translators or in other roles supporting U.S. troops and diplomats.

Advocates and migration experts emphasize that those admitted through evacuation and resettlement programs typically underwent extensive, multi-stage security checks. "He was vetted both before he landed, probably once he landed, once he applied for asylum," said Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute. “But more importantly, he was almost certainly vetted extensively and much more by the CIA,” Selee added, referring to Lakanwal’s prior work with U.S. intelligence.

Haris Tarin, who worked on Biden-era resettlement efforts, said the case may expose shortcomings in social integration and mental-health supports rather than reflecting a failure of screening: "This is a failure of us not being able to integrate — not just foreign intelligence and military personnel — but our own veterans, over the past 25 years.”

Policy reaction and political rhetoric

In the wake of the shooting, the State Department announced late Friday on X that it temporarily stopped issuing visas for people traveling on Afghan passports. Political leaders seized on the attack to call for broader migration restrictions. Former President Donald Trump described what he called lax migration policies as “the single greatest national security threat facing our nation,” and other political figures stated they would pursue sweeping pauses and removals of migrants they deem undesirable.

Some proposed measures echo executive actions already implemented in recent months, according to immigration advisers. "They are highlighting practices that were already going into place," said Andrea Flores, a former White House immigration adviser.

Community impact and fears

The shooting and ensuing political response have generated fear among Afghan communities across the United States. Many resettled Afghans worry their legal status could be reevaluated or that processing for family members and colleagues abroad will stall.

One Afghan resettled in the U.S., who asked to be identified only as Nesar, said he had been settling into life — learning English, finding a job and preparing for a green-card interview scheduled for Dec. 13 — but now feels anxious in public and uncertain about his application’s progress. Another newly resettled Afghan, a former defense attorney, said he hoped to contribute to his new community but now faces renewed suspicion because of one person’s alleged actions: "It seems that whenever a terrorist commits a crime, its shadow falls upon me simply because I am from Afghanistan," he said.

Expert perspective

Policy analysts urge a measured response: preserve robust screening while strengthening integration, mental-health services and veteran support networks. Resettlement advocates also warn against retroactively stigmatizing entire nationalities for isolated acts of violence, noting that many Afghans in the U.S. risked their lives to assist American personnel.

"These policies were already creating widespread disruption and fear among lawfully admitted families. What’s new and deeply troubling is the attempt to retroactively tie all of this to one act of violence in a way that casts suspicion on entire nationalities," said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge.

The investigation into the shooting remains active. Officials and community leaders say careful, transparent review — paired with community and mental-health supports — is the prudent path forward to preserve public safety without undermining the protection and opportunities afforded to evacuees who aided U.S. efforts.