The Trump administration issued a sharp warning on Friday after a senior intelligence official revealed that the Afghan suspect in the deadly Washington, D.C., attack had not been fully vetted before entering the United States.
Kent Criticising Biden Administration
Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said the Biden administration’s 2021 intake policies created conditions that allowed Rahmanullah Lakanwal to enter the country without the traditional security screening used in prior years.
According to Kent, Lakanwal “was not vetted” before his arrival. He said that the screening performed during Lakanwal’s time as a military ally in Afghanistan was meant only to assess his reliability on the battlefield—not whether he should be admitted to live in the United States. “That was not vetting for life in America,” Kent said.
A senior U.S. official supported that assessment, calling the wartime vetting standard “a low threshold” that had never previously been used to authorize entry into the American homeland. Before 2021, Special Immigrant Visa applicants often waited more than 18 months for interviews in third countries as part of rigorous background checks.
CIA Involvement
Former officials from Homeland Security and the CIA also pointed to the chaotic 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal as the moment that enabled Lakanwal and others to enter with expedited processing. According to the New York Post, former CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the Biden team justified Lakanwal’s entry based on his prior service alongside U.S. personnel in Kandahar.
Former Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Lakanwal came through the Biden administration’s parole program under Operation Allies Welcome, which allowed tens of thousands of Afghans to enter with temporary status. She noted that his parole would not have triggered removal, even if concerns had emerged later.
Lakanwal ultimately settled in Bellingham, Washington, with his wife and five children and was granted asylum in April 2025.
Details About The Case
Investigators say that on Thanksgiving Eve, he ambushed two National Guard members in Washington, D.C. Guard member Sarah Beckstrom was shot first and later died of her injuries. Andrew Wolfe remains in critical condition. Officials say Lakanwal opened fire with a revolver, then used Beckstrom’s rifle before being subdued by a Guardsman who tackled and stabbed him while he attempted to reload.
Security analysts say the incident highlights broader systemic failures in the rushed evacuation process. One veteran who worked on the operation said that many evacuees arrived with “no meaningful vetting” during the final days of the withdrawal.
In response, the Trump administration has paused all Afghan-related immigration. Afghan visa processing is suspended, and asylum cases approved during the Biden administration are now under review.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the administration is mounting a “whole-of-government effort to defend America’s national security.”
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