Afghans in US issue plea to Trump after Washington DC shooting

Afghans living in the US have condemned Wednesday’s “deeply tragic” deadly shooting attack in Washington DC, while stressing that the suspect – who moved to the US from Afghanistan four years ago – did not represent them.

The alleged gunman, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the US under a programme that offered special immigration protections to Afghans who had worked with US forces in Afghanistan, in the wake of its troop withdrawal from the country in 2021.

National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, 20, was killed in Wednesday’s shooting, while her colleague, Andrew Wolfe, 24, is said to be fighting for his life.

In response, US President Donald Trump has halted the processing of all immigration requests from Afghans, ordered a review of green cards issued to individuals from 19 countries, and threatened a wider crackdown on migrants from what he calls “third-world countries”.

On Friday, his administration also said it had halted all decisions on asylum claims.

The Afghan Community Coalition of the United States expressed its sympathy for the families of the victims, calling for a “comprehensive investigation” while urging the US government not to delay or suspend Afghan immigration claims.

“Twenty years of Afghan-US partnership must not be forgotten,” the coalition’s statement said, nodding to the two-decade effort launched by the US in 2001 to overthrow Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers and establish security in the country.

Afghans living in the US told the BBC they had been horrified by the Washington DC attack, which they emphasised was the act of just one person.

Some spoke anonymously out of fear of reprisals by the Taliban, which took back control of Afghanistan following the 2021 US withdrawal.

One of the Afghans, who moved to the US after the military withdrawal, described Wednesday’s incident as “deeply tragic”. He noted that it occurred ahead of Thanksgiving and amid a “highly charged political environment in Washington DC”.

But he highlighted that the shooting was an “individual criminal offence, not representative of a community”.

“Afghans in the United States are hardworking, tax paying members of society,” he said. “They remain grateful to America for the evacuation efforts during the crisis in Kabul.”

Thousands of Afghans scrambled to escape the country in 2021, many via Kabul, as the US withdrew its troops and the Taliban swept in.

The suspect, Mr Lakanwal, is said by US officials to have worked with US forces in Afghanistan while they were stationed there. He helped guard US forces at Kabul airport at the time of the withdrawal, a former military commander who served alongside him told the BBC.

He came to the US the same year. He applied for asylum in 2024, and his application was granted earlier this year, an official told the BBC’s US partner, CBS News.

Another Afghan, who also moved to the US following the country’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, labelled Wednesday’s shooting “really shocking”. He said he was praying for the families of the victims.

He suspected that it was an “individual crime which is committed without any support, participation and co-operation of others”, and said the attack “should not be counted for the whole community”.

Another Afghan man living in the US told the BBC that the shooting had been a “very devastating event for all immigrants”, adding that the political reaction had left many people in a state of uncertainty.

The situation felt more acute due to the threats in his country of origin, he said. “For us Afghans there’s problem for us in Afghanistan as well as here.”

Crystal Bayat, an Afghan human rights activist who moved to the US after 2021, said that, despite having secured permanent residency, she still feared the US government could abruptly change course on Afghan migrants.

“I have a fear every single day that what if the policy changes and they deport us from here?” Ms Bayat told the BBC World Service’s Outside Source.

“I hope President Trump changes his mind on this,” Ms Bayat said. “It is very dangerous to punish entire immigrant communities, or the people who stood shoulder to shoulder with the [American] people.”

She said there were families who were still in danger in Afghanistan due to their support of the US before the withdrawal.