New asylum decisions in wake of National Guard shooting
According to an internal directive obtained by CBS News and two sources familiar with the order, the Trump administration instructed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officers on Friday to halt all asylum decisions following the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C.
Following Wednesday’s attack, which was purportedly carried out by an Afghan man who was given refuge by U.S. immigration officials earlier this year, the administration is making its most recent attempt to tighten the American immigration system.
Asylum officers at USCIS, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security, were instructed to refrain from approving, denying or closing asylum applications received by the agency, according to the internal notice and sources, who requested anonymity to describe an action that has not been publicly announced.
On Thursday, the Trump administration said it would start a review of asylum approvals under the Biden administration, citing the shooting of the two National Guard members, one of whom has died. The man accused of shooting the soldiers, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is an Afghan national who entered the U.S. in 2021 during former President Joe Biden’s presidency and was granted asylum this spring under the second Trump administration.
The action relayed to USCIS asylum officers internally on Friday amounts to an indefinite pause on asylum adjudications for all nationalities. Asylum cases are filed by foreigners who claim they will suffer persecution if deported or returned to their home countries because of certain factors, including their race, nationality, religion or political views.
“Do not enter any decision information for affirmative cases,” a USCIS notice to asylum officers in one office read, referring to asylum cases overseen by the agency. “Defensive” cases, the other type of asylum applications, are filed by those facing deportation and are decided by federal immigration judges at the Justice Department.
Officers were told the pause applied to all USCIS asylum cases, including those filed by Afghans who arrived under a Biden administration resettlement effort dubbed “Operation Allies Welcome.” They were also told that in-person appointments for asylum applicants to find out what decisions have been made on their cases would be canceled, at least for Monday.
The guidance said officers could continue asylum application interviews and review cases up to the point of making a decision. “Once you’ve reached decision entry, stop and hold,” the directive said.