The United States government has started reviewing green cards issued to immigrants from certain countries, as well as asylum approvals, after a shooting incident on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.
Two members of the West Virginia National Guard — Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe and Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom — were followed and shot while on patrol near a metro station.
Sarah, who was 20 years old, died from her injuries despite efforts by doctors. Andrew, 24, is still in critical condition. President Donald Trump described the shooting as a “terrorist attack.”
On Thursday, Joseph B. Edlow, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said he had ordered a strict review of all green cards given to immigrants from countries listed as “countries of concern.”
A presidential proclamation issued in June listed these countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
The Department of Homeland Security has also started a detailed review of asylum cases approved during former President Joe Biden’s administration, according to DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.
The Trump administration recently instructed officials to reassess refugees admitted to the U.S. between January 20, 2021, and February 20, 2025 a process expected to affect about 200,000 people.
The suspect in Wednesday’s shooting, Rahmanullah Lakanwal from Afghanistan, entered the U.S. in 2021 under Biden’s “Operation Allies Welcome.
” He applied for asylum in 2024 and was approved in April 2025.
The 29-year-old was one of the Afghans evacuated to the U.S. after helping American forces as an interpreter and translator.
He served in a special Afghan Army unit known as the Zero Units in Kandahar, which worked closely with the CIA during the conflict with the Taliban after the 9/11 attacks.
