The Biden refugee vetting process has earned a second look after President Donald Trump issued an executive order to thoroughly screen green card holders of 19 countries formed by the so-called countries of concern. The action is after a fatal shooting incident close to the White House, which led to the killing of one National Guard member and the wounding of another. The order is one of the most unrelenting immigration policies made by Trump in his second term, announced by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow. Edlow Thursday posted on X At the behest of the President, I have ordered a complete, intensive re-examination of all green cards of all aliens belonging to all countries of concern. The USCIS claims that the review will focus on the permanent residents of the countries that are labeled as deficient in the screening and vetting procedures, and it will be determined by a June 2025 presidential proclamation. Such countries are Afghanistan, Iran, Haiti, Venezuela, Somalia, and Yemen, among others.
The Washington Attack and Aftermath
The news was released less than 24 hours after a shooting incident near the white house involving two members of the D.C. National Guard. One of them, 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, is dead of her injuries, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, is in critical condition. The U.S. government has accused Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan citizen and former interpreter with American troops, of assault with intent to kill. In 2021, Lakanwal came to the U.S. as part of Operation Allies Welcome, a refugee program that resettled over 85,000 Afghans following the American withdrawal from Afghanistan (Lakanwal, 2021). The investigation by federal agents indicated that Lakanwal had initiated an asylum procedure in the Biden government, and it was finished this April with the Trump government. The U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro of the District of Columbia stated that they are looking into all of his immigration background and vetting procedures. Trump, in a video message issued from White House, denounced the incident as a terrorist act and directed that all pending immigration applications involving Afghans be suspended at once.
New Controversy of Vetting and Security
The attack has also been used by the national security officials as evidence to point to the alleged deficiencies in the previous screening of refugees. According to the statement by Joe Kent (Director of the National Counterterrorism Center), published on X, Afghans admitted under Operation Allies Welcome had not been vetted for resettlement but merely for combat reliability. Kent said that he was vetted to fight against the Taliban and ISIS, not to reside among us as a citizen. But records released under Biden in the Department of Homeland Security show that the Afghan evacuees went through biometric, biographic, and counterterrorism vetting by various federal agencies, including the FBI, DOD, DHS, and NCTC. According to a former senior official in DHS, Reuters reported that the Afghan evacuation of 2021 was not especially negligent, but chaotic, and that every person faced numerous identity and security assessments.
Reactions of Family and Intelligence Community
Relatives of Lakanwal said they did not believe the allegations. In an interview with NBC News, a cousin said: We were the ones who were targeted by the Taliban in Afghanistan. I cannot imagine that he can do that. A CIA spokesperson verified that Lakanwal had earlier served in a partner force in Kandahar cooperating with the U.S intelligence services until 2021. Trying to clarify that relation, Trump informed reporters that it was cuckoo too many times with such people, and he was talking about Afghans who entered the U.S. as part of military assistance programs.
Implications of Policy and Legal Concerns
The advocacy groups and civil rights organizations fear that the review of the USCIS can lead to thousands of green card holders being subjected to unnecessary scrutiny or revocation. It is guilt by nationality, former executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, Marielena Hincapie, said. Reinstating lawful residency cases grounded on the country of origin is discriminatory and may violate the Constitution. Law practitioners foresee straight away hardships in case USCIS tries to rescind residency without personal conclusions. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is also stated to be gearing up to initiate litigation. Security analysts, in the meantime, say that the order can overstretch the USCIS resourcreourcesh are already crippled by backlogs on over 2 million pending applications. Such mass reconsideration, according to David Bier, immigration policy analyst at the Cato Institute, would put the legal immigration system on its knees within weeks.
An America Divided on Immigration
The scandal is an indication of a polarizing tension between humanitarian needs and national security concerns. The supporters of Trump cast the measure as a necessary protection following what they regard as chaos in admitting refugees under Biden, whereas the opponents view it as a political gimmick playing on fear. By the end of Friday, the DHS officials reported that they no longer believe there will be any additional attacks and that Lakanwal is still in federal custody. His initial hearing is set to take place on December 5 in Washington, D.C. The USCIS review will potentially start in a matter of days and will potentially impact over 150,000 legal permanent residents.
