The United States has paused all asylum decisions and stopped issuing visas to people from Afghanistan in response to the killing of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., this week.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director (USCIS) Joseph Edlow said late Friday that asylum decisions were being halted “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”

The move comes as part of a sweeping crackdown on legal immigration by the Trump Administration in response to the shooting of two West Virginia National Guard members posted to Washington, D.C., allegedly by an Afghan national, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who worked with the CIA in Afghanistan and resettled in the U.S. in 2021.

Read more: U.S. to Reexamine All Gre

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