By Suzanne Downing 
The US State Department has ordered all diplomatic posts to immediately stop processing visas for Afghan nationals, following the fatal shooting of two National Guard members near the White House on Wednesday and another threat deterred in Texas, where an Afghan threatened to make a bomb and blow up a Fort Worth building. The directive was issued internally on Thursday.
The shooting claimed the life of West Virginia Army National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, who died from gunshot wounds to the head and chest. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains in critical condition. The alleged gunman is an Afghan national who entered the United States in 2021 after the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
President Donald Trump, speaking shortly after Beckstrom’s death was confirmed, said every individual who entered the country under Biden’s Afghan evacuation operations should be reevaluated.
He described the shooting as evidence of severe failures in vetting during the 2021 withdrawal, when tens of thousands of Afghans were rapidly admitted through military airlift and humanitarian parole programs.
The State Department is now moving in alignment with the president’s directive. According to the internal notice, all posts are instructed to cancel pending visa applications for Afghan nationals and halt future processing until further guidance is issued.
Tommy Pigott, the State Department’s principal deputy spokesperson, said the administration is undertaking a “whole-of-government effort” to safeguard national security and that the pause is a direct response to the attack. He said the safety of Americans outweighs all other considerations and that the administration intends to reassess the procedures that allowed the suspect to enter the country.
The visa freeze marks the most decisive action taken so far in response to the shooting and signals a broad federal reexamination of Afghan immigration programs that began under the previous administration. It also raises immediate questions about the status of thousands of Afghans abroad who were still awaiting entry, including applicants who aided US forces during the 20-year war, which began after the terrorist attacks on the United States on 9-11.
The White House and State Department have not indicated how long the pause will remain in effect or what criteria will be used in the reevaluation process.