The Trump administration paused asylum applications filed by migrants inside the United States, the latest change to come out of the government’s review of the immigration system in the wake of a shooting of two National Guard members.
The pause affects affirmative asylum applicants, or people who apply for protection with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services asylum officers. In this asylum process, applications must be filed within a year of when migrants arrive in the country.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the 29-year-old Afghan man whom the authorities identified as the one who shot two National Guard members in Washington on Wednesday, obtained asylum in April, according to three people with knowledge of the case who were not authorized to speak publicly. It was not clear whether it was affirmative asylum.
“U.S.C.I.S. has halted all asylum decisions until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible,” said Joseph Edlow, the director of the immigration agency, in a statement Friday evening. “The safety of the American people always comes first.”
The Trump administration has enacted a broad and far-reaching crackdown on immigration this year. The attack in Washington has only prompted it to redouble those efforts. In recent days, officials announced that they were reviewing green cards given to those from countries banned from travel to the United States by the administration, paused all immigration applications from Afghan immigrants and began a review of asylum requests granted during the Biden administration.
“The protection of this country and of the American people remains paramount, and the American people will not bear the cost of the prior administration’s reckless resettlement policies,” Mr. Edlow wrote on social media in announcing the green card review on Thursday. “American safety is non negotiable.”
The affirmative asylum system has long experienced backlogs. As U.S.C.I.S. became overwhelmed by border crossings in recent years, applications for asylum filed inside the United States grew.
A July 2024 report by the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general found that at the end of the 2023 fiscal year, U.S.C.I.S. had more than one million asylum cases pending determination. Of those, more than 786,000 affirmative asylum cases had been pending determination for more than 180 days.
Hamed Aleaziz covers the Department of Homeland Security and immigration policy for The Times.
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