Post Reports: What Happens to Asylum After the Attack on the National Guard

Published: December 3, 2025
Host: Colby Itkowitz, The Washington Post
Guest: Arlise Hernandez, National Immigration Reporter

Episode Overview

This episode explores the political and policy repercussions following the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C. The incident, allegedly perpetrated by Rahmanala Lakhinwal, an Afghan national who entered the U.S. via a special visa after aiding American forces, has prompted the Trump administration to institute a sweeping crackdown on asylum and immigration policies. Host Colby Itkowitz and Post reporter Arlise Hernandez provide context: examining the event itself, how the asylum system typically functions, detailing the announced policy changes, and analyzing their broader implications for U.S. immigration moving forward.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Shooting and Immediate Aftermath

• Incident Details
  The episode opens with a somber depiction of the memorial for the National Guard victims and emphasizes the emotional impact in D.C. and beyond. (00:01)
• Victims
  • Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died with family at her side; remembered in West Virginia.
  • Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolf, 24, remains hospitalized after the attack. (02:27)
• Suspect Background
  • Rahmanala Lakhinwal, 29, entered the U.S. via the “Operation Allies Welcome” program for Afghan nationals who aided the U.S. during the Kabul evacuation in 2021.
  • Lakhinwal reportedly worked with CIA-backed paramilitary units (“Zero Units”) during the war, underwent layers of security vetting, and was granted asylum in April 2025. (02:59, 04:31, 05:52)

2. Asylum and Vetting Process

• Humanitarian Context
  The U.S. program intended to protect Afghans who supported the U.S., whose lives were at risk after the Taliban takeover. (03:55)
• *Vetting
  • Lakhinwal’s entry and asylum involved “thorough vetting by counterterrorism authorities, the military, the State Department, and USCIS.”
  • “The question remains, you know, what is sufficient vetting according to the Trump administration? Because these are processes that have been in existence for decades.” – Arlise Hernandez (06:38)
• Historical Rarity of Violent Incidents by Asylees
  “Historically, it’s been pretty rare. These are people who are fleeing violence ... asylees and refugees in particular are probably the highest and most intensely scrutinized of immigrants who apply to come to this country.” – Hernandez (07:44)

3. The Trump Administration’s Policy Response

• Immediate Actions
  Two key decisions:
  • All asylum case decisions are halted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services “until, in their words, every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”
    • Announced by USCIS Director Joseph B. Edloe. (09:21)
  • State Department pauses visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passports. (09:21)
• Broader Implications
  • These are potentially constitutional but will likely face legal scrutiny.
  • “If they’re seeking asylum in the United States, all of that has kind of ground to a halt for now, that is our understanding.” – Hernandez (10:38)

4. Human Impact of the New Policies

• Pending Cases
  • Over 1.4 million pending asylum cases, plus “many millions more” in various stages. (11:40)
• Effect on Asylum Seekers
  • People may lose work permits and jobs due to processing freezes.
  • Some may abandon asylum claims due to long, harsh detentions or family separation. (11:57)
  • “That would send more than a chilling effect. It would be sort of cold water onto the lives of these individuals ... expecting the United States to give them a fair shot.” – Hernandez (12:54)

5. Expansion Beyond Asylum: Further Restrictions & Reviews

• Visa and Green Card Holders
  • Since June, entry has been restricted from 19 countries including Afghanistan and the DRC.
  • The administration now proposes to:
    • Add more countries to the list.
    • Re-examine people already in the U.S. from these nations (green card holders, visa holders, asylees) with additional checks/reviews, purpose and process yet unclear. (16:23)
• Feasibility and Legal Questions
  • Reviewing all existing immigrants’ files is “incredibly labor intensive.”
  • “Denaturalization is something within the powers of the executive branch I think that’s something that will receive robust legal challenge.” – Hernandez (18:30)

6. The Case of Afghan Refugees and Community Repercussions

• Pausing Afghan Visas
  The State Department’s action may shut down the special visa program for Afghans who assisted the U.S. (19:16)
• Community Concerns
  • Blanket restrictions provoke anxiety and anger among Afghan Americans and their advocates.
  • “It is dangerous to ascribe the actions of an individual to an entire community.” – Hernandez (20:14)

7. Contextualizing: Bigger Immigration Picture

• Policy Trajectory
  • This is part of a border-to-border reduction in legal avenues for entry to the U.S.
  • “Those few doors that were open to people over the course of the Trump administration are closing.” – Hernandez (21:28)
• Political Narrative
  The Trump administration has consistently leveraged high-profile crimes involving immigrants to justify restrictive policies:
  “The administration has not, I don’t want to be cruel, but hasn’t ... wasted a tragedy to advance their particular set of policy agenda around immigration ... this shooting, as tragic as it was, also feeds into this general idea that immigrants, as Secretary Noem put it, are themselves flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement.” – Hernandez (21:28, 23:48)

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• On Vetting:
  “Lockenwell would have underwent a thorough vetting by counterterrorism authorities, by the military, by the State Department, and then ultimately by uscis ... The question remains, you know, what is sufficient vetting according to the Trump administration?”
  — Arlise Hernandez (05:52–07:14)
• On Historic Rarity of Asylum-Related Violence:
  “Historically, it’s been pretty rare. These are people who are fleeing violence, who are fleeing threats against their lives in their countries ... asylees and refugees in particular are probably the highest and most intensely scrutinized.”
  — Hernandez (07:44)
• On Trump Administration’s Policy Response:
  “Essentially ... USCIS has halted, stopped all asylum decisions ... And then a little after that, State Department said that it would pause visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passports.”
  — Hernandez (09:21)
• On Human Impact:
  “People who have work permits, who have now expiration dates ... might not be able to renew them, in which case those people would lose their jobs, in which case those families would lose income.”
  — Hernandez (12:54)
• On Expansion of Policy:
  “The step further here is the review of people who are already in the United States, people who already have green cards or legal visas that have not expired yet.”
  — Hernandez (16:23)
• On Policy Trajectory:
  “If you think of, like, doors all along the borders of the United States, and there are many fewer doors that are open ... those few doors that were open ... are closing.”
  — Hernandez (21:28)
• On Use of Tragedy for Policy:
  “[The] administration has not ... wasted a tragedy to advance their particular set of policy agenda around immigration.”
  — Hernandez (23:48)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:01–01:29 — Overview of the shooting, political fallout, and pivot to immigration
• 02:27–02:53 — Details about the victims
• 02:59–04:31 — The alleged shooter’s background and programs for Afghan allies
• 05:52–07:14 — Vetting process and Trump administration’s claims
• 09:21–10:26 — Trump administration’s immediate policy changes (asylum freeze, Afghan visa suspension)
• 11:40–12:31 — Numbers of asylum seekers affected and life while waiting
• 12:54–13:34 — Impact on pending asylum seekers’ lives and work
• 16:23–18:30 — New push to expand restrictions to additional nationalities, and those already present in the U.S.
• 19:16–20:14 — Closing the Afghan special immigrant visa and community aftermath
• 21:28–24:32 — Big-picture context and history of policy shifts after tragedy

Tone and Concluding Reflection

The dialogue remains factual, measured, and deeply empathetic toward the affected individuals and communities. Arlise Hernandez combines thorough policy analysis with historical context and a clear-eyed appraisal of immediate impacts:

“It is dangerous to ascribe the actions of an individual to an entire community.” (20:14)

The episode concludes with a cautious warning: that a new era of immigration restriction may be underway — one that’s both deeply consequential for millions and reflective of historic cycles of reaction in American immigration law.

For listeners seeking a comprehensive yet accessible explanation of the recent asylum policy upheaval, this episode provides both the facts and crucial analysis on what lies ahead for U.S. immigration.