The Trump administration has announced it is halting all asylum decisions in the wake of the National Guard shooting in Washington DC, according to a senior immigration official.
According to The Guardian, Joseph Edlow, the director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, said in a post on X on Friday that asylum decisions would be paused “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible”.
The announcement came as charges against the man accused of shooting two National Guard members have been upgraded to first-degree murder after one of the soldiers died, the US attorney for the District of Columbia announced on Friday, while investigators continue to seek a motive.
Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sgt Andrew Wolfe, 24 were hospitalized in critical condition after the Wednesday afternoon shooting near the White House. Donald Trump said on Thursday evening that Beckstrom had died.
US attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office said the charges against Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who worked with the CIA during the Afghanistan war, now included one count of first-degree murder and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed.
Beckstrom and Wolfe were deployed with the West Virginia National Guard as part of Trump’s crime-fighting mission that federalized the DC police force. The president also has deployed or tried to deploy National Guard members to other cities to assist with his mass deportation efforts but has faced court challenges.
