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The US has suspended processing of all immigration applications for Afghan nationals pending a review of "security and vetting protocols", US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced.
In a post on X, the agency said that "the protection and security of our homeland and the American people remains our sole focus and mission."
The decision comes after two National Guard soldiers were seriously injured in a shooting near the White House. The suspected gunman was an Afghan national who entered the US in September 2021.
US President Donald Trump called the attack an "act of terror", adding that he would take steps to remove foreigners "from any country that does not belong in this country".
Tens of thousands of Afghans entered the US under special immigration protection after the chaotic US withdrawal from the country in 2021 under former President Joe Biden.
Multiple law enforcement sources identified a 29-year-old Afghan national who entered the country under a program called Operation All Allies Welcome.
In a statement after the shooting, Trump said the US "must now re-examine every foreigner who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden's leadership."
The latest order follows a US travel ban imposed by Trump on citizens of Afghanistan and 11 other countries earlier this year.
Afghan nationals holding Special Immigrant Visas, available to those who worked directly with the US military before the Taliban retook control of the country in 2021, were among the few exceptions to the sweeping bans.
Earlier this year, Trump also ended a program that gave protection from deportation to thousands of people from Afghanistan.
The Temporary Protected Status program allowed migrants to obtain work permits if the US government considered it unsafe to return to their countries of origin due to war.
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