US suspends immigration requests for Afghans after National Guard shooting

The US has suspended processing all immigration requests from Afghans, after an Afghan man was identified as the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard soldiers near the White House.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services said the decision was made pending a review of "security and vetting protocols".

The suspect of Wednesday's shooting, which left two National Guard members critically injured, is said to have arrived in the US from Afghanistan in September 2021.

US President Donald Trump said the attack was an "act of terror", adding that he would take steps to remove foreigners "from any country who does not belong here".

In the wake of the attack, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the president had asked him to send 500 more National Guard members to the American capital.

"This will only stiffen our resolve to ensure that we make Washington DC safe and beautiful," the Pentagon chief said.

There are currently nearly 2,200 National Guard troops in the city.

They are a reservist force that can be activated to serve as military troops, but have limited power as they cannot enforce the law or make arrests.

The troops were deployed in August to tackle what Trump called "out of control" crime in Washington.

Overall crime in the city has fallen since the force was sent, which Trump credits to the troops' presence on the streets.

There have been similar deployments in other Democratic-led cities across the US, which have faced legal challenges by opponents who accuse the Trump administration of overreach.

Trump imposed a travel ban on nationals of Afghanistan - and 11 other countries - earlier this year.

Afghan nationals holding Special Immigration Visas - available to those who worked directly with the US military and feared retribution from the Taliban as a result of that co-operation - were among a few exceptions to the sweeping bans.

The Taliban returned to power following the US withdrawal in 2021.

Trump has also ended a programme that granted deportation protections for thousands of people from Afghanistan.

The temporary protected status programme allowed migrants to get work permits if the US government deemed it unsafe for them to return to their home countries due to war.

Additional reporting by Tom Bateman

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