{"slug":"immigration-freeze-after-dc-guard-shooting","title":"Nationality-Wide Immigration Freeze and Status Reviews After the D.C. National Guard Shooting (November 2025)","date":"2025-11-27","lastUpdated":"2026-10-04","description":"After an Afghan national shot two National Guard members near the White House on 26 November 2025, killing one, the Trump administration paused all immigration applications from Afghan nationals, ordered a \"full-scale, rigorous reexamination\" of green cards held by people from 19 \"countries of concern\", and began reviewing every asylum grant approved under President Biden. President Trump announced he would \"permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries\" and \"terminate\" the status of millions admitted under Biden. The suspect had been granted asylum in 2025, under the Trump administration. Refugee advocates condemned measures that \"punish an entire nationality based on the actions of one individual.\"","summary":"One man's attack was used to justify freezing immigration benefits for an entire nationality and re-examining the green cards of every lawful permanent resident from 19 countries. The suspect's own asylum had been approved under the current administration.","category":"deportation","severity":"severe","ongoing":true,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-says-he-will-suspend-immigration-from-all-third-world-countries/","title":"Trump says he will suspend immigration from all \"Third World Countries\"","publisher":"CBS News"},{"url":"https://refugeerights.org/news-resources/irap-condemns-shooting-of-national-guard-members-calls-for-restraint","title":"IRAP Condemns Shooting of National Guard Members, Calls For Restraint","publisher":"International Refugee Assistance Project"},{"url":"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-administration-gives-ice-broader-powers-to-detain-legal-refugees-citing-security-concerns/","title":"Trump administration gives ICE broader powers to detain legal refugees, citing security concerns (February 2026; reports the USCIS 'high risk' pause)","publisher":"CBS News"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["immigration freeze","Afghan nationals","green card review","asylum review","national-origin discrimination","collective punishment","USCIS"],"relatedEntries":["expanded-muslim-travel-ban","refugee-resettlement-suspension","refugee-detention-directive-one-year-rule","mass-tps-terminations"],"timeline":[{"date":"2025-11-21","title":"Review of Biden-era refugees ordered","summary":"Before the shooting, a memo directs USCIS to review the cases of all refugees admitted under Biden (CBS News)."},{"date":"2025-11-26","title":"Two National Guard members shot near the White House","summary":"One Guard member is killed and another critically wounded; an Afghan national is arrested (CBS News)."},{"date":"2025-11-27","title":"Afghan applications paused; 19-country green card review; asylum review","summary":"The administration pauses Afghan immigration applications, orders re-examination of green cards from 19 countries and confirms a review of all Biden-era asylum grants (CBS News; IRAP)."},{"date":"2025-11-27","title":"Trump: 'permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries'","summary":"In a late-night post Trump says he will pause such migration and terminate the status of millions admitted under Biden. He does not specify countries, timing or mechanism (CBS News)."}],"location":{"name":"United States (nationwide); shooting in Washington, D.C.","lat":38.9007,"lng":-77.0367},"custom":{"era":"second-term","posture":"executive-action","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights","article":"Articles 2(1) and 26","provision":"Equal protection and non-discrimination, including on national origin, in rights the state grants"},{"statute":"International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination","article":"Articles 2 and 5","provision":"Prohibition of racial discrimination, defined to include distinctions based on national or ethnic origin, in the enjoyment of civil rights"},{"statute":"1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (incorporating 1951 Convention Art. 3)","article":"Article 3","provision":"Refugee Convention provisions apply without discrimination as to race, religion or country of origin"}],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Afghan nationals with pending immigration applications, including those who served alongside US forces; lawful permanent residents from 19 'countries of concern'; people granted asylum under the Biden administration; applicants from countries USCIS labelled 'high risk'","perpetrators":"President Donald Trump; Department of Homeland Security; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services","keyPoints":["The suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, came from Afghanistan in September 2021 on humanitarian parole after working with a CIA-backed partner force in Kandahar; his asylum claim was granted earlier in 2025, under the Trump administration, a DHS official told CBS News.","The administration announced 'a full-scale, rigorous reexamination' of all green cards held by immigrants from 19 'countries of concern', including Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Somalia, Libya, Sudan, Yemen and Venezuela (CBS News).","DHS confirmed the White House was reviewing all asylum cases approved under the Biden administration (CBS News).","The administration announced an immediate pause on immigration applications filed by Afghan nationals (IRAP); USCIS later paused all legal immigration applications from dozens of countries it labelled 'high risk' (CBS News, February 2026).","Trump wrote that he would 'permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries', 'terminate' the status of millions admitted under Biden, 'remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States', and deport people who are 'non-compatible with Western Civilization' (CBS News).","IRAP: 'Policies that punish an entire nationality based on the actions of one individual are unjust and counterproductive.'"],"searchAliases":["Third World pause","Lakanwal","19 countries of concern","Afghan immigration pause"],"legalBasis":"Equal protection (Fifth Amendment) and statutory limits on revoking lawful permanent residence and asylum; ICCPR Arts. 2 and 26 and CERD Art. 5 (non-discrimination by national origin); Refugee Protocol (Art. 3 of the Convention). No international-crime characterisation is in play.","postureNote":"These are announced executive measures, confirmed by DHS statements to CBS News. How many green cards or asylum grants have actually been revoked, and the outcome of any litigation, were not established from the sources fetched. The President's 'Third World' pause was announced without a specified legal mechanism.","relatedIncidents":["expanded-muslim-travel-ban","refugee-resettlement-suspension","refugee-detention-directive-one-year-rule","mass-tps-terminations"]}}