Farm workers harvesting yellow bell peppers near Gilroy, California. (Nnehring/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration Thursday announced new restrictions for immigrants, reducing the work authorization periods from five years to 18 months, the latest crackdown on legal immigration.

The new policy follows the shooting of two West Virginia National Guard members by an Afghan national granted asylum earlier this year. 

The shift will not only affect hundreds of thousands of immigrants, but the shortened period for work authorization could create massive backlogs at the agency responsible for processing legal immigration requests, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 

“Reducing the maximum validity period for employment authorization will ensure that those seeking to work in the United States do not threaten public safety or promote harmful anti-American ideologies,” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said in a statement.

“After the attack on National Guard service members in our nation’s capital by an alien who was admitted into this country by the previous administration, it’s even more clear that USCIS must conduct frequent vetting of aliens,” he continued. 

Immigrants affected by the new changes include refugees; those granted asylum; those with a withholding of removal; those with pending applications for asylum or withholding of removal; those adjusting their status, for example by gaining a green card; and those who fall under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act of 1997.

That act applies to certain Nicaraguans, Cubans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, nationals of former Soviet bloc countries and their dependents who in the 1990s had applied for asylum and were systematically denied.

Additionally, USCIS fees for applying for permits and other paperwork increased as a result of the massive tax and spending passage that Republicans passed over the summer and President Donald Trump signed into law. For initial employment authorization, fees are now $550 and $275 to renew. 

Following the shooting, U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died. A second guard member, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains critically wounded but hospitalized in stable condition. 

In response, the Trump administration has ramped up its crackdown on legal immigration and highlighted the need for its mass deportation campaign. The suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, pleaded not guilty to several charges in court on Tuesday. 

This week, all immigration applications from 19 countries listed on Trump’s “high-risk” countries or travel ban from earlier this year, were paused — a move that freezes processing for green card holders and citizenship applications.

People are sworn in as new U.S. citizens during a special U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization ceremony on the Hollywood Sign Terrace at historic Griffith Observatory on Oct. 21, 2024 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration late Tuesday paused all immigration applications from 19 countries the president earlier had listed for restricted travel into the United States, a move that freezes processing for green card holders and citizenship applications.

After two West Virginia National Guard members were shot in the District of Columbia by an Afghan national who was granted asylum, the Trump administration has moved to halt and reexamine all forms of legal immigration, which is handled by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 

One guard member, U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died, and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains critically wounded, although his condition is said to be stable. The suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, pleaded not guilty to several charges on Tuesday. 

The memo says that USCIS will place a hold on processing benefits requests — including citizenship processing — from immigrants hailing from the 19 “high-risk” countries and the agency will re-review any of those approved requests for immigrants who entered the U.S. after Jan, 21, 2021, or under the Biden administration. 

The 19 countries with travel restrictions into the U.S. are: Afghanistan, Burma, Burundi, Chad, Cuba, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and Yemen. In June the president issued a travel ban on those 19 countries. 

The hold will remain in place until otherwise directed by USCIS Director Joseph Edlow, according to the memo.

The memo also states that USCIS will delay action on all applications for asylum and withholdings for removal, regardless of country of origin, “pending a comprehensive review.” A withholding of removal is granted by an immigration judge when a country is deemed too dangerous for an immigrant for deportation, so a third, safer country must be chosen.

“USCIS has considered that this direction may result in delay to the adjudication of some pending applications and has weighed that consequence against the urgent need for the agency to ensure that applicants are vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible,” according to the memo. “Ultimately, USCIS has determined that the burden of processing delays that will fall on some applicants is necessary and appropriate in this instance, when weighed against the agency’s obligation to protect and preserve national security.”

President Donald Trump and his administration have often criticized immigrants who were granted temporary legal protections under the Biden administration, arguing they were not properly vetted. 

That has included a special program created for Afghan allies fleeing the Taliban takeover after the chaotic withdrawal by the U.S. in 2021, as well as Latin Americans granted humanitarian parole from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. 

Members of the U.S. Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies respond to the shooting of two members of the West Virginia National Guard near the White House on Nov. 26, 2025. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — The man accused in the shooting of two West Virginia National Guard members in the District of Columbia pleaded not guilty in his Tuesday arraignment hearing, during which he appeared virtually from a hospital bed.

U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died as a result of her injuries, and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains in the hospital with severe wounds. 

D.C. Superior Court Magistrate Judge Renee Raymond denied bond for 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who officials allege drove across the United States to the district from his residence in Washington state. The guard members were attacked while on duty in a downtown neighborhood blocks from the White House.

“He came across the country 3,000 miles, armed with a specific purpose in mind,” Judge Raymond said in her reasoning for denying him bond. “The government’s case is exceedingly strong.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed charges Tuesday for first-degree murder while armed; possession of a firearm; and assault with the intent to kill. 

Lakanwal’s next court date is Jan. 14.

“The nature and circumstances of the instant offense, the strength of the government’s case, and the sheer terror that resulted, that continues to animate because of his actions, leads me to conclude that no conditions or combination of conditions, will reasonably ensure the safety of the community,” Raymond said.

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey wrote on social media Tuesday that Wolfe “remains in critical condition but is stable.”

“Doctors and the family are optimistic about his current progress and note that he has responded to some basic requests such as a thumbs up sign and wiggling his toes,” Morrisey said.

Troops in the district

The West Virginia National Guard members shot last week are among the 2,000 troops stationed in the district since August, after President Donald Trump declared a “crime emergency.” 

Republican governors have offered to send their states’ reserves of National Guard members to the nation’s capital. A federal judge last month found the president’s deployment of troops to the district illegal. 

Lakanwal was granted asylum this year after he came to the United States through a special humanitarian program for Afghanistan allies who served along American forces and had to flee the country after the Taliban took it over following the chaotic U.S. withdrawal in 2021. 

The shooting that took place on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday has resulted in Trump expanding his immigration crackdown to include a halt to asylum applications, as well as increased scrutiny on visa applications from Afghan nationals. 

“In the wake of last week’s atrocity, it is more important than ever to finish carrying out the president’s mass deportation operation,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at Monday’s press briefing. “They must go back to their home countries.”

Translator appears for Lakanwal

During Tuesday’s arraignment, Lakanwal seemed to thrash around in pain in his hospital bed. A translator also appeared virtually for Lakanwal. 

Lakanwal’s lawyer raised concerns about U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro, a former Fox News host, holding future press conferences, warning that could harm a “free and fair trial” for Lakanwal. Pirro held a press conference on Thanksgiving morning to discuss the shooting.

“The government at their own peril … continue to taint a potential jury pool against Mr. Lakanwal as a result of their press conferences,” he said.

Department of Defense press secretary Kingsley Wilson said during a Tuesday briefing at the Pentagon that all National Guard members in the district would be armed. 

Following last week’s shooting, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he would request an additional 500 National Guard members be deployed in the district. 

It’s unclear if that directive would violate a federal judge’s order that found the August deployment unlawful. The federal judge stayed her Nov. 20 order for three weeks to give the administration time to either appeal or remove the troops. The Trump administration filed an emergency appeal after the shooting in the district.

Ashley Murray contributed to this report.

A makeshift memorial of flowers and American flags honoring the late West Virginia National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom stands outside the Farragut West Metro station on Dec. 1, 2025 in Washington, D.C.  (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has accelerated his drive to curb legal immigration, after a native of Afghanistan who had been granted asylum was accused in a shooting in the nation’s capital that left one member of the West Virginia National Guard dead and another in critical condition.

“In the wake of last week’s atrocity, it is more important than ever to finish carrying out the president’s mass deportation operation,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Monday’s press briefing. “They must go back to their home countries.”

The Trump administration at the beginning of the president’s second term launched an unprecedented crackdown on all forms of immigration. The deadly shooting on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, in a commercial area of the District of Columbia just blocks from the White House, has intensified the push.

The Department of Homeland Security in a social media post after the Wednesday attack called for immigrants to “remigrate,” which is a far-right concept in Europe that calls for the ethnic removal of non-white minority populations through mass migration.

“There is more work to be done,” Leavitt said, “because President Trump believes that he has a sacred obligation to reverse the calamity of mass unchecked migration into our country.”

The suspect in the guard shooting is a 29-year-old Afghan national who entered the country during the Biden administration through a special immigrant visa program for Afghan allies after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from the country in 2021. 

Authorities identified him as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who worked for a CIA counterterrorism operation in Afghanistan, according to the New York Times. He was granted asylum under the Trump administration earlier this year.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia plans to charge Lakanwal with first-degree murder after one of the National Guard soldiers, U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died as a result of her injuries. 

Still hospitalized is U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24. Trump has indicated he intends to honor both Beckstrom and Wolfe at the White House.

District officials said the shooting of guard members was “targeted,” but the motive remains under investigation. 

Pauses on asylum

Leavitt said the Trump administration will continue “to limit migration, both illegal and legal,” after the shooting.

Separately on Wednesday, the administration ended Temporary Protected Status for more than 330,000 nationals from Haiti, opening them up for deportations by February. 

Within hours of Wednesday’s shooting, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services halted all immigration requests from Afghanistan nationals. On Thursday, USCIS head Joseph Edlow announced that by direction of Trump the agency would reexamine every green card application from “every country of concern,” which are the 19 countries on the president’s travel ban list.  

And by Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio directed all U.S. embassies to suspend all visa approvals for individuals with passports from Afghanistan. 

Over the weekend, Trump told reporters that those pauses on asylum could last “a long time,” although it’s unclear what authority the executive branch has to suspend a law created by Congress through the 1980 Refugee Act. 

This is not the first time Trump has tried to end asylum this year, as there is a legal challenge to the president barring asylum seekers from making asylum claims at U.S. ports of entry.

Venezuelan boat strikes

During Monday’s press conference, Leavitt also defended the Trump administration’s continued deadly strikes on boats off the coast of Venezuela allegedly containing drugs. The attacks have been occurring since September. 

The president and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have stated, without evidence, that the boats’ operators are narco-terrorists and that the strikes are legal, since they have taken place in international waters. Roughly 80 people have been killed in nearly two dozen attacks since September. 

Leavitt disputed any questions of wrongdoing by the administration during a Sept. 2 strike, when two survivors clinging to boat wreckage were allegedly killed by a follow-on strike, as first reported by The Washington Post Friday.

“President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made it clear that presidentially designated narco-terrorist groups are subject to lethal targeting in accordance with the laws of war,” Leavitt said, adding that Hegseth authorized a military commander to conduct the operation.

However, the attacks have raised concern among members of Congress, and following the Post story, the U.S. Senate and House Armed Services committees moved to open bipartisan inquiries into the military strikes, with a focus on the alleged follow-on attack that killed two survivors. 

How the National Guard wound up in the district

Trump initially mobilized 800 National Guard troops to the nation’s capital in August after claiming a “crime emergency” in the district, despite a documented three-decade low in crime.

Many were instructed they would be carrying service weapons, The Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 17. The White House effort was accompanied by a heightened U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in the district.

The mobilization then became tied up in court for months.

A federal district judge in the District of Columbia found the administration’s deployment of more than 2,000 guard troops in the city illegal but stayed her Nov. 20 decision for three weeks to give the administration time to appeal and remove the guard members from the district’s streets.

The guard troops had been expected to remain in the district through the end of February.

The administration filed an emergency motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia for a stay to be issued on the order by Thursday. The administration filed the emergency motion the same day as the attack on the two National Guard members.

Trump ordered an additional 500 guard members to the district following the shooting.

The Joint Task Force District of Columbia has been overseeing guard operations in the district, including units from the district, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and West Virginia.

FBI Director Kash Patel, left, at a press conference on Nov. 27, 2025, looks at photos of the two West Virginia National Guard soldiers shot in Washington, D.C., the previous day. They were identified as Andrew Wolfe, 24, and Sarah Beckstrom, 20.  (Photo by Andrew Leyden/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — West Virginia National Guard member U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, one of the victims of a shooting near the White House, died Thursday, President Donald Trump said.

“She’s just passed away,” Trump said. “She’s no longer with us. She’s looking down at us.”

Trump, who was speaking with members of the military via video, said she was “magnificent in every way.”

A White House official said Trump spoke with Beckstrom’s parents on Thursday night.

The other victim, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, underwent surgery and remained hospitalized in Washington, D.C., in critical condition.

“The other young man is fighting for his life,” Trump said. 

Earlier Thursday, federal law enforcement officials examined evidence collected from the home of the alleged lone gunman, who drove to the nation’s capital from Washington state to target the troops, officials said.

They did not disclose a motive for the attack in a busy area of offices and retail just blocks from the White House, the day before Thanksgiving.

Beckstrom and Wolfe underwent surgery and were hospitalized  after the suspect allegedly shot them in broad daylight Wednesday, according to Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

A military press release said Beckstrom, of Summersville, was assigned to the 863rd Military Police Company, 111th Engineer Brigade. Wolfe, of Martinsburg, was assigned to the Force Support Squadron, 167th Airlift Wing. 

Wolfe entered service on Feb. 5, 2019 and had been on orders in the district since the beginning of the mission in August. Beckstrom entered service on June 26, 2023 and also had been in the district since August.

“Their families are with them now. They are critical. I think you understand the meaning of that,” Pirro told reporters at a Thursday morning briefing.

The suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan refugee who worked with U.S. forces in Afghanistan, is currently facing three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, Pirro said, adding the charges are “appropriate” for now.

“It’s not clear, you know, how this is going to end up. But let me be perfectly clear about how it will end up in this office if one of them is to pass. And God forbid that happens, this is a murder one (charge). Period. End of the story,” Pirro said.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News Thursday morning the Department of Justice will seek the death penalty if either of the guard members succumbs to their injuries.

Bondi said Beckstrom had volunteered to work over the holiday.

Brig. Gen. Leland Blanchard, commanding general of the National Guard in the District of Columbia, told reporters, “Regardless of the outcome, we know that their lives, their family life, their families’ lives are all changed forever because one person decided to do this horrific and evil thing.”

Pirro said the suspect “drove his vehicle across the country from the state of Washington with the intended target of coming to our nation’s capital.” 

Trump mobilized 800 National Guard members to the district in August, on the grounds of a “crime emergency,” despite a nearly 30-year low in violent crime in the city. 

Some of the guard troops were instructed they would be carrying service weapons while deployed in the district, according to an Aug. 17 report in the Wall Street Journal. 

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters Wednesday the administration will send an additional 500 National Guard troops to the district.

Fellow guard troops responded ‘immediately’

Shortly after 2 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, at 17th and I streets NW, near the Farragut West Metro station, Lakanwal allegedly shot the first guard member, then “leans over and strikes the guardsman again,” Pirro said, not identifying which member was initially struck. 

Lakanwal then struck the second guard member “several times,” she said.

“Fellow guardsmen who were there responded immediately, engaging the suspect, neutralizing the threat, and subduing him at the scene. He was transported to a local hospital, where he remains as we speak, under heavy guard. Thanks to the swift and coordinated response of the National Guard and the Metropolitan Police Department, no additional victims were harmed, and the scene was secured within minutes,” Pirro said.

Kash Patel, director of the FBI, said the agency searched Lakanwal’s home last night in Bellingham, Washington, seizing multiple electronic devices and interviewing family members. Patel said the suspect is believed to have five children.

The gun Lakanwal used in the attack, a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver, is being analyzed at the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, Patel said.

Patel said the FBI is also interviewing interested parties in San Diego but would not provide further details on the “ongoing investigation.”

A ‘relationship’ with ‘partner forces’ in Afghanistan

Patel told reporters that he spoke to CIA Director John Ratcliffe Wednesday night and obtained “confirmation now that the subject had a relationship in Afghanistan with partner forces.”

“We are fully investigating that aspect of his background as well, to include any known associates that are either overseas or here in the United States of America,” Patel said.

Patel would not answer reporters’ questions about whether and when Lakanwal had been granted asylum in the U.S. 

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to States Newsroom’s request for a timeline.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued a statement Wednesday night confirming Lakanwal arrived in the U.S. on Sept. 8, 2021, as part of the Operation Allies Welcome.

The program was established after the U.S. military’s withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan “to support vulnerable Afghans, including those who worked alongside us in Afghanistan for the past two decades, as they safely resettle in the United States,” according to Department of Homeland archived information.

Noem did not provide any further information on Lakanwal’s asylum process.

The administration announced Wednesday night it will immediately halt any immigration requests from Afghan nationals.

Lakanwal had worked with a CIA-backed military unit in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, Fox News reported Wednesday night. The CIA did not immediately respond to States Newsroom’s request for comment.

Guard deployment in the courts

Last week, a District of Columbia federal judge found the Trump administration’s deployment of the National Guard in the city illegal. However, Judge Jia Cobb paused her order for three weeks to give the Trump administration time to remove the guard members along with appealing her ruling.  

More than 2,000 members of the guard have remained in the district, and are expected to stay until the end of February, according to Cobb’s order.

The Trump administration on Wednesday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in an emergency motion to intervene.