Officials criticise Biden vetting, but Afghan shooting suspect was granted asylum under Trump

The Trump administration on Thursday blamed Biden-era vetting failures for the admission of an Afghan immigrant suspected of shooting two National Guard members in Washington DC, but the alleged gunman was granted asylum this year under president Donald Trump, according to a US government file seen by Reuters.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, entered the US on September 8th, 2021, under Operation Allies Welcome. The resettlement programme was set up by former Democratic president Joe Biden after the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 that led to the rapid collapse of the Afghan government and the country’s takeover by the Taliban.

FBI director Kash Patel and Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, both Trump appointees, said during a press conference on Thursday that the Biden administration had failed to conduct adequate background checks or vetting on Lakanwal before allowing him to enter the US in 2021.

Neither official provided any evidence to support their assertion.

Mr Trump said one of the two West Virginia National Guard members shot by an Afghan national near the White House had died, calling the gunman who had worked with the CIA in his native country a “savage monster”.

As part of his Thanksgiving call to US troops, Mr Trump said that he had just learned that Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, had died, while Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, 24, was “fighting for his life”.

Mr Patel said Lakanwal, who had worked with US government forces during the US war in Afghanistan, was improperly allowed to enter the US because “the prior administration made the decision to allow thousands of people into this country without doing a single piece of background checking or vetting”.

The programme, which allowed more than 70,000 Afghan nationals into the US, according to a congressional report, was designed with vetting procedures, including by US counter-terrorism and intelligence agencies. But the large-scale and rushed nature of the evacuations led critics to say the background checks were inefficient.

Afghan suspect had worked with CIA

Under the Operation Allies Welcome programME, Afghans evacuated to the US were granted a two-year “parole” that allowed them to live and work legally and then apply for a more permanent status.

The document reviewed by Reuters said Lakanwal applied for asylum in December 2024 and was approved on April 23rd of this year, three months after Mr Trump took office. Lakanwal, 29, who resided in Washington state, had no known criminal history, the official said.

The government file on Lakanwal said he had been vetted by the US because of his work with US government partners during the war in Afghanistan, and no potentially disqualifying information had been found.

“This animal would’ve never been here if not for Joe Biden’s dangerous policies which allowed countless unvetted criminals to invade our country and harm the American people,” said Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman.

CIA director John Ratcliffe said in a statement that Lakanwal had worked with CIA-backed local units in Afghanistan.

“The Biden Administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. Government, including CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation,” Mr Ratcliffe said. “This individual – and so many others – should have never been allowed to come here.”

The shooting of US troops on American soil by an immigrant is likely to reverberate across the American political landscape. Mr Trump has already ordered the deployment of 500 more troops to Washington.

Trump narrative on immigration

While Lakanwal was in the country legally, the incident plays directly into Mr Trump’s narrative on immigration. He has made cracking down on both legal and illegal immigration a centrepiece of his presidency, and this case may give him an opening to broaden the debate beyond legality to include closer scrutiny of the vetting of immigrants.

In a video message posted by the White House on Wednesday, Mr Trump called Lakanwal an “animal” and the shootings “an act of terror”.

Mr Trump called for a “re-examination” of all Afghan nationals who entered the US during the Biden administration. All immigration applications by Afghan nationals were suspended by the Trump administration on Wednesday night.

US Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that the Trump administration would review all Biden-era asylum cases, expanding on a review of Biden-era refugees reported by Reuters earlier this week.

A source familiar with the matter said the suspension included applications by Afghans who had worked with the CIA.

The attack has also revived Trump administration criticism of the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

The withdrawal led to a collapse of the Afghan government that was much quicker than expected. The evacuation of thousands of Afghans fueled concerns by Republicans that potential terrorists could sneak into the US.