US halts all asylum decisions after shooting of National Guard members

BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — The Trump administration has halted all asylum decisions and paused issuing visas for people traveling on Afghan passports, seizing on the National Guard shooting in the nation's capital to intensify efforts to rein in legal immigration.

The suspect in Wednesday's shooting near the White House that killed Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and critically wounded Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, both of the West Virginia National Guard, is facing charges including first-degree murder. Investigators are seeking to find a motive for the attack.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal is a 29-year-old Afghan national who had been living in Bellingham, Washington, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Seattle. He worked with the CIA during the Afghanistan War. He applied for asylum during the Biden administration and was granted it this year under President Donald Trump, according to a group that assists with resettlement of Afghans who helped U.S. forces in their country.

The Republican administration is promising to pause entry to the United States from some poor nations and review Afghans and other legal migrants already in the country.

The two service members were deployed as part of Trump’s crime-fighting mission in the District of Columbia. Trump has sent or tried to deploy National Guard members to other cities to assist with his mass deportation efforts but has faced court challenges.

The office of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., said the charges against Lakanwal also include two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed. There were “many changes to come,” she told Fox News.

Trump said the shooting was a “terrorist attack” and he criticized the Biden administration for enabling entry to the U.S. by Afghans who had worked with American forces.

The director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Joseph Edlow, said in a post on the social platform X that asylum decisions will be paused “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”

Experts say the U.S. has rigorous systems to conduct background checks of asylum-seekers. Asylum claims made from inside the country through USCIS have long faced backlogs. Critics say the slowdown has been exacerbated under the Republican administration.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said his department has paused “visa issuance for ALL individuals traveling on Afghan passports.”

Shawn VanDiver, president of the San Diego-based group #AfghanEvac, said in response: “They are using a single violent individual as cover for a policy they have long planned, turning their own intelligence failures into an excuse to punish an entire community and the veterans who served alongside them.”

Lakanwal lived in Bellingham with his wife and five children, former landlord Kristina Widman said.

Neighbor Mohammad Sherzad said Lakanwal was polite and quiet and spoke little English. Sherzad said he attended the same mosque as Lakanwal and heard from other members that he was struggling to find work. He said Lakanwal “disappeared” about two weeks ago.

The mosque condemned the shootings. “The Islamic Society of Whatcom County is deeply saddened and shaken by the heinous attack in Washington, D.C. Our hearts go out to the victims, their families, and all those impacted. We condemn this act unequivocally,” the mosque said in a statement Saturday afternoon.

The statement went on to say that the mosque is cooperating with the FBI, but that members didn’t know the suspect very well, saying he was "not an integrated part of our community. Like any house of worship, our doors were open to those who wished to pray alongside us,” the statement said, adding that the shootings “do not represent our faith,” and that “no community should be judged by the conduct of a single person.”

Lakanwal worked briefly this summer as an independent contractor for Amazon Flex, which lets people use their own cars to deliver packages, according to a company spokesperson.

Investigators were executing warrants in Washington state and other parts of the country.

Lakanwal entered the U.S. in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration program that resettled Afghans after the U.S. withdrawal, officials said. Lakanwal applied for asylum during that administration, but his asylum was approved this year under the Trump administration, #AfghanEvac said in a statement.

Lakanwal served in a CIA-backed Afghan Army unit, known as one of the special Zero Units, in the southern province of Kandahar, according to a resident of the eastern province of Khost who identified himself as Lakanwal’s cousin and spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

The man said Lakanwal started out working for the unit as a security guard in 2012 and was later promoted to become a team leader and a GPS specialist.

Beckstrom enlisted in 2023 after graduating high school and served with distinction as a military police officer with the 863rd Military Police Company, the West Virginia National Guard said.

“She exemplified leadership, dedication, and professionalism,” the guard said in a statement, adding that Beckstrom volunteered for the deployment in Washington.

There was a moment of silence Saturday for Beckstrom and Wolfe before West Virginia University’s football game against Texas Tech in Morgantown.

The administration has ordered 500 more National Guard members to the nation's capital. An Army spokesperson said several governors were planning to support the operation and that specific troop announcements would come from their offices. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the president had asked him to send the troops.

Nearly 2,200 troops are currently assigned to the joint task force that has operated in the city since August, according to the government’s latest update.

Binkley and Finley reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press journalists John Raby, Gary Fields, Stephen Groves, Sarah Brumfield, Siddiqullah Alizai, Elena Becatoros, Randy Herschaft and Hallie Golden contributed to this report.

A mosque, operated by the Islamic Society of Whatcom County, is seen after prayers on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Bellingham, Wash. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio)

People walk past a small memorial in a planter, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, near the site where two National Guard members were shot in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

This photo provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office on Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, shows National Guard member Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe. (U.S. Attorney's Office via AP)

This photo provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office on Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, shows National Guard member Specialist Sarah Beckstrom. (U.S. Attorney's Office via AP)

A small memorial of flags, flowers, other items are seen in a planter, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, near the site where two National Guard members were shot in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

National Guard patrol the National Mall near the Lincoln Memorial, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

CHICAGO (AP) — A potential replay challenge by the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday was denied because first-year manager Kurt Suzuki waited too long to make the appeal.

The play occurred with the Chicago Cubs batting in the third inning of the Angels' 6-2 loss in the series finale at a chilly Wrigley Field. Nico Hoerner doubled into the gap in left-center, and Miguel Amaya used a headfirst slide to score the first run of the game.

Shortstop Zach Neto's throw beat Amaya to the plate. It was unclear if Amaya's left hand touched home, and if it got in there ahead of catcher Travis d'Arnaud's tag. Umpire David Rackley ruled Amaya was safe.

Suzuki held up his hand in the direction of the field before deciding to challenge. But the umpires did not initiate a replay review because they said Suzuki took too long to make his decision.

According to Major League Baseball's replay regulations, once a manager notifies an umpire that a club is considering a challenge, the umpire “will hold play until the earlier of the expiration of the 15-Second Determination Timer ... or an indication from the Manager that the Club is not going to challenge the play.”

“When a close play happens like that, the manager is required to immediately hold, to signal to start the clock, which is 15 seconds,” crew chief Chris Guccione told a pool reporter. “So once I see a manager hold by raising his hand, I'll radio up to the press box, to the tech up there, who then starts the clock. So then from that point they've got 15 seconds to either wave it off, challenge, whatever they need to do.”

The 15 seconds is displayed on the pitch clock, and umpires wear a communication device that buzzes when the clock strikes zero.

“There's zeros and the buzz, and then Kurt came up just a little late,” Guccione said.

Suzuki said bench coach John Gibbons, who is the conduit between the manager and Angels staffers looking at the replay, said the timing of the challenge decision was close.

“He said it was a judgment thing,” Suzuki said. “He said it was like zero-bam and then I challenged, so it was like right after. If we’re late, we’re late. Can’t really argue that. Even if it’s a half-second, a second, you can’t argue that. If you’re late, you’re late.”

The Cubs went on to score four more runs in the third, including two with two outs in the inning.

The Angels challenged a successful steal by Hoerner in the sixth, but the call was upheld.

The time limit for deciding whether to request a replay challenge was lowered from 20 to 15 seconds when the pitch clock was instituted as part of a package of rules changes ahead of the 2023 season.

The 42-year-old Suzuki took over as the team's manager in October. He spent the previous three seasons as a special assistant to Angels general manager Perry Minasian.

Suzuki was a major league catcher for five teams over 16 seasons, winning a World Series with Washington in 2019. He had no major league coaching experience when he was hired as manager.

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Los Angeles Angels manager Kurt Suzuki, left, attempts to challenge a play with an umpire during the third inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Los Angeles Angels manager Kurt Suzuki, left, attempts to challenge a play with an umpire during the third inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)