Washington. The US State Department suddenly announced that the issuance of all types of visas to Afghan passport holders has been stopped with immediate effect. The new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio himself confirmed this on the social media platform X and wrote, There is no higher priority than the security of our country and our people.
The drastic measure comes on the heels of Wednesday’s deadly attack in Washington, DC, which left one National Guard soldier dead and another seriously injured. The attacker has been identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 31-year-old Afghan national. Lakanwal was brought to America in 2021 under the Biden administration’s ‘Operation Allies Welcome’. The CIA has confirmed that he worked for the US intelligence agency in Afghanistan. Following the attack, Lakanwal has been charged with first-degree murder as well as two more serious charges of armed assault.
Separately, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIA) Director Joseph Edlow announced that decisions on every asylum application will now be withheld until the maximum level of investigation and screening is completed. This means that at present no new refugee will be able to get legal status in America. Within just ten days of the arrival of the Trump administration, this is considered to be the strictest action on immigration policy. Experts say that this has also opened the way for re-examination of about 76,000 Afghan refugees who came in 2021. US officials clarified that this ban on Afghan passports will continue until the new visa screening process is completed. At present, the only way for Afghan citizens to come to America is almost closed.