The Trump administration has paused visa and other programs that allow Afghans — including some who aided U.S. troops — to enter the country legally after a deadly shooting involving an Afghan national. The move has exposed divisions among Republicans, with some urging continued legal pathways and tougher vetting rather than shutting the door entirely.
The new restrictions follow a shooting in Washington that left one National Guard member dead and another wounded. The suspected shooter is an Afghan national who had been granted asylum earlier this year and previously worked with a CIA unit, according to an NPR report. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said the man was radicalized after arriving in the United States.
In the wake of the incident, the Trump administration has paused asylum decisions and visa processing for Afghans and is re-reviewing refugees admitted under the previous administration, while fast-tracking some other applicants, according to NPR's reporting.
Shawn VanDiver, founder of #AfghanEvac, an advocacy group for Afghans who supported the U.S. military, described the impact of the policy shift this way: "Halting asylum decisions, suspending visa processing for Afghans, rereviewing every refugee admitted under the last administration, while fast tracking others they see as more desirable." He argued that Congress has ceded too much ground on oversight, saying lawmakers have left a vacuum "being filled with fearmongering, not facts, politics, not policy."
The changes have highlighted rifts within the Republican Party over how to balance security concerns with commitments to wartime allies. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said of the shooting and its aftermath, "It's unfortunate that it happened, but that by itself can't be a reason to shut down any consideration going forward or even reconsidering some of the other ones."
Senator Susan Collins of Maine has likewise called for stronger vetting but not an end to programs that admit Afghans who worked alongside U.S. forces. "There are Afghan citizens who acted as guards, drivers, interpreters, cooks for our troops. So I think the answer is more intensive and careful vetting," she said.
Other Republicans have framed the matter as largely up to the White House. Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma, who sits on the Homeland Security Committee, said, "Primarily that's an executive branch issue. The vetting process does exist and is out there. It's just a matter of its execution at this point." He has not called for Congress to reverse the administration's pause.
Separately, a bipartisan provision in the annual national defense policy bill that would have restored the State Department’s Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts — which had helped relocate Afghan allies who supported U.S. military operations — was quietly removed by House Republican leaders, according to reporting by Politico. The office’s future remains uncertain after its exclusion from the bill.
The Department of Homeland Security has emphasized that "the safety of the American people always comes first" in defending the administration’s approach. The debate over the new restrictions reflects a broader struggle in Washington over how to protect national security while honoring promises made to Afghans who assisted U.S. forces during the long war in Afghanistan.
