The U.S. government will move quickly to reexamine the immigration status of “every single person added to this country over the last four years,” senior adviser Stephen Miller said on Wednesday.
“What you heard from President Trump, the breaking news here tonight, is that his government is going to accelerate efforts to review every single person added to this country over the last four years,” Miller told Fox News, estimating that this could involve around 20 million migrants. By comparison, the undocumented immigrant population in the United States reached about 14 million in 2023, according to the nonpartisan Pew Research Center.
Earlier on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said that those who arrived in the U.S. from Afghanistan during the Biden administration should have their status “reexamined.” His comments followed news that two West Virginia National Guard members deployed in Washington, D.C., had been shot and injured, with an Afghan national identified as the suspect.
Why It Matters
The White House has indicated it will cite the suspect’s nationality as part of its justification for a tougher immigration stance. Within hours of the shooting, immigration processing for Afghan nationals was halted.
Miller’s latest comments suggest that the administration’s response will extend far beyond Afghan arrivals, potentially affecting millions of people from a wide range of countries.
For many migrants already living with uncertainty under Trump’s immigration policies, the prospect of a broad status review is likely to heighten anxiety and fears about their future in the U.S.
What To Know
In his Fox News interview, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller argued that immigration during the Biden years created the “worst national security threat in our history,” specifically mentioning arrivals from Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya and Iraq.
“Now if you’re an illegal you’re out automatically, but everybody else who was brought here refugee-, asylum- status whatever status, as he said, if you’re not someone who loves this country if you’re not any benefit to this country we’re going to send you out of this country,” Miller said.
In a video address, President Trump said: “We must now reexamine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from the country who does not belong here, or add benefit to our country. If they can’t love our country, we don’t want them.”
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services later announced that all immigration requests from Afghan nationals had been indefinitely paused.
Authorities said the shooting suspect, identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was shot and wounded before being arrested. Officials are still investigating a possible motive. The two National Guard members remained in critical condition on Wednesday night, according to officials.
Lakanwal entered the U.S. in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, the Department of Homeland Security said. That program allowed roughly 76,000 Afghans to come to the United States following the American withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s return to power in 2021.
NBC News reported, citing an anonymous relative, that Lakanwal had served alongside U.S. forces in Afghanistan for 10 years. Many others admitted under Operation Allies Welcome also worked with American troops as interpreters or support staff.
Lakanwal was granted asylum earlier this year under the Trump administration, according to multiple news reports.
What People Are Saying
Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement on Wednesday: “The suspect who shot our brave National Guardsmen is an Afghan national who was one of the many unvetted, mass paroled into the United States under Operation Allies Welcome on September 8, 2021, under the Biden Administration. I will not utter this depraved individual’s name. He should be starved of the glory he so desperately wants.”
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X: “My heart breaks for the victims of this horrific shooting in Washington DC near the White House.”
Vice President JD Vance also posted on X: “I remember back in 2021 criticizing the Biden policy of opening the floodgate to unvetted Afghan refugees. Friends sent me messages calling me a racist. It was a clarifying moment. They shouldn’t have been in our country.”
Shawn VanDiver, president of AfghanEvac, a coalition supporting Afghans immigrating to the U.S., said in a statement that the shooter should face “full accountability and prosecution under the law.” He added: “This individual’s isolated and violent act should not be used as an excuse to define or diminish an entire community,” stressing that Afghans “undergo some of the most extensive security vetting of any population entering” the U.S.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox News Digital that the Biden administration defended bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 because of his past work with the U.S. government, including the CIA.
What Happens Next
The investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
National Guard troops have been deployed across Washington since August, when the Trump administration declared a “crime emergency” to bolster federal and local law enforcement efforts. Around 2,375 troops are currently activated, and Trump said he ordered an additional 500 following the attack.
A U.S. district judge recently ruled that the deployment is likely unlawful and ordered it to end next month, but the administration is appealing the decision.
