President Donald Trump has initiated a significant crackdown on legal immigration following a violent incident involving an Afghan immigrant, marking a renewed focus on immigration enforcement that echoes policies from his first term.
Immediate Actions After Shooting Incident
The Trump administration moved swiftly after authorities identified Rahmanullah Lakanwal as the suspect in an ambush that killed one National Guard member and critically wounded another. Within two days of the Wednesday attack, President Trump ordered multiple immigration restrictions into effect.
The administration has paused all Afghan immigration applications and launched a comprehensive review of asylum cases approved during the previous Biden administration. Additionally, the President signaled plans to expand vetting procedures under the existing travel ban that currently affects 19 countries.
This represents an escalation of Trump's immigration enforcement priorities since returning to office in January. The administration has previously focused on border security and deportations, but the recent actions indicate a sharper focus on legal immigration channels.
Mixed Reactions and Legal Challenges
Critics have accused the Trump administration of using an isolated incident to unfairly target immigrants from Afghanistan and other nations. The group AfghanEvac, a coalition supporting Afghan immigrants, emphasized that the Afghan community undergoes extensive vetting and continues to make valuable contributions across the United States.
Republican Representative Mike Lawler of New York, while criticizing Biden administration vetting procedures, cautioned against generalizing about all Afghan immigrants. "We want to make sure that everybody is very clearly vetted, that they meet the strictest of requirements," Lawler told Fox News. "But I want to stress, you cannot cast aspersions on every single person that came from Afghanistan."
Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies supported increased caution, noting that some immigrants come from countries where terror groups operate or where the U.S. receives limited information, making thorough vetting challenging.
Unprecedented Scope of Reviews
The administration's review extends beyond new applications. The Department of Homeland Security is examining all asylum cases approved during the Biden administration, while U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services director Joe Edlow ordered "a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern."
However, the actual implementation appears more limited than initial announcements suggested. The USCIS later clarified that the review would focus on the 19 travel ban countries and be limited to pending or future applications.
Former USCIS associate director Michael Valverde noted that while the agency regularly reviews concerning cases, a broad reopening of hundreds of thousands of cases would be unprecedented and could significantly increase processing delays.
The administration faces legal hurdles for some proposed measures. Immigration experts suggest that stripping federal benefits from all non-citizens would likely be struck down by courts, citing a 1971 Supreme Court ruling that found such restrictions unconstitutional.
Meanwhile, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows Trump's approval rating on immigration has dropped from 50% in mid-March to 41% by mid-November, indicating shifting public opinion as the administration intensifies enforcement measures.
