NK MONITORING DESK
WASHINGTON: The US State Department has suspended the issuance of visas for Afghan passport holders after a recent shooting near the White House, in which the suspect was identified as an Afghan national.
The announcement was issued via the department’s official account on X, stressing that the US government is “taking all necessary steps to safeguard national security and protect the American public.”
The decision follows a statement from officials under the Trump administration, revealing that authorities will reassess the immigration status of all Afghan green card holders as well as residents from 18 other countries previously designated as security concerns. This came after last week’s attack on National Guard personnel in Washington.
According to officials, the accused gunman, detained on Wednesday, is a 29-year-old Afghan who had earlier cooperated with US troops in Afghanistan. AfghanEvac, an organization involved in relocating Afghan allies after the Taliban seized power in 2021, confirmed that he had been granted asylum earlier this year rather than permanent residency.
Joseph Edlow, head of US Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS), stated on X that he has ordered a thorough review of every green card issued to individuals from countries deemed high-risk. When reporters inquired about which nations fall under that classification, a USCIS spokesperson referred them to President Trump’s June executive order, designating 19 countries as “of Identified Concern.”
Under that directive, citizens of 12 countries—including Afghanistan—were broadly barred from entering the United States. The other countries subjected to the full ban were Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
Additionally, Trump’s order also placed partial travel restrictions on citizens from seven other nations: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. Some categories of temporary employment visas for these countries remain permissible under limited exemptions.
Read more: https://nayakashmir.com/pakistan-says-afghanistan-responsible-for-us-shooting-tajikistan-terror-attack-fo/
