(NewsNation) — The White House has sought to distance itself from Rahmanullah Lakanwal amid disclosures that the accused shooter of two National Guard members was granted asylum under the Trump administration in April.
Lakanwal, 29, worked as a counterterrorism agent with the CIA in his native Afghanistan before the chaotic U.S. pullout from his war-torn country in 2021. He was allowed into the U.S. through a Biden administration-era program called “Operation Allies Welcome,” which critics have said lacked effective screening.
According to AfghanEvac, an organization that has helped resettle Afghan allies in the U.S., Lakanwal arrived under the status of “humanitarian parole,” which was meant to protect at-risk partners who faced reprisals under the Taliban. Lakanwal applied for asylum under the Biden administration. In April, the group said, the Trump administration granted him asylum, setting the stage for him to apply for lawful permanent residence.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, said the Trump administration’s hands effectively were tied by previous actions of the Biden administration.
“This Afghan national was paroled in by the Biden Administration. After that, Biden signed into law that parole program, and then entered into the 2023 Ahmed Court Settlement, which bound [the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] to adjudicate his asylum claim on an expedited basis. Regardless if his asylum was granted or not, this monster would not have been removed because of his parole,” McLaughlin said in a statement.
Authorities say Lakanwal, who lived in Washington state, traveled to the nation’s capital where he ambushed and shot two members of the West Virginia National Guard on Wednesday afternoon. Officials characterize it as a targeted attack, and it’s being investigated as an act of terror.
One of the Guard members, Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died Thursday, President Trump said. He said the other, Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, was “fighting for his life.”
Rahmanullah Lakanwal was vetted before US entry: Source
A senior U.S. official tells NewsNation that Lakanwal had been vetted before his entry into the U.S., with no ties to terrorism groups coming up.
AfghanEvac officials said Afghans who have resettled in the United States should not be judged by Lakanwal’s alleged actions.
“None of us want to be defined by the actions of another person, so we encourage the media, elected leaders, decision-makers, and other people of influence not to demonize the Afghan community for the deranged choice this person made,” the organization said.