Federal immigration officials recently announced plans to re-examine the green cards of individuals from “19 high-risk countries” and conduct an assessment of country-specific factors for pending and future immigration requests, stirring worry among Vermont’s Afghan community, advocates say.
The announcement from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services came after an Afghan man was named as the suspect in the Wednesday shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C. — Sarah Beckstrom, 20, who later died, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, hospitalized in critical condition.
The suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, previously worked with the CIA in Afghanistan and was among more than 190,000 Afghans admitted into the U.S. after its withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
The same day of the shooting, USCIS wrote on X, “Effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols.”
Later, USCIS Director Joseph Edlow posted on Facebook that USCIS halted all asylum decisions “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”
Molly Gray, executive director of the Vermont Afghan Alliance, released a statement on Thanksgiving Day condemning the attack on National Guard members and affirming the organization’s support for Afghan allies in Vermont.
“The President’s response is deeply harmful, and spreads misinformation about Afghan allies and veterans who risked everything for this country,” the statement said, observing that the actions of one person shouldn’t be attributed to the entire Afghan community.
Afghans spent 21 years supporting U.S. missions in Afghanistan and risking their lives, and they fled to avoid persecution by the Taliban, the statement said.
Afghans who resettled in Vermont contribute to the state’s workforce and economy, Gray told VTDigger. About 650 Afghans live in Vermont, working in fields such as manufacturing, health care, engineering, the service industry and small businesses, she said.
“It’s important that state leaders condemn the attack, but also ensure that Afghan community members across Vermont are not targeted and continue to feel safe and welcome,” Gray said, sharing that Afghans living in Vermont have already contacted the Alliance expressing their concerns.
According to a memo obtained by the Associated Press early last week — before the shooting — and signed by Edlow, the Trump administration was already planning a review and re-interview of all refugees admitted in the U.S. from Jan. 20, 2021, to Feb. 20, 2025.
But no official guidelines have been released on the matter, and local groups working with refugees are still waiting to see who is going to be impacted and how.
Tracy Dolan, director of the Vermont Refugee Office, also expressed her concern for the National Guard attack in D.C. and said the Afghan community is saddened by what happened.
“We’re hopeful that people understand that one person doesn’t represent an entire group, just like one refugee doesn’t represent all refugees,” Dolan said.
Dolan also emphasized that refugees who come to the U.S. are highly vetted in a process that can take months or even years.
“That is not just looking at any kind of criminal or legal history that they might have from where they’re coming from, but it also involves interviews and documentation of where they’ve been and who they’ve interacted with,” she said. “It is extensive, and it goes through several layers.”
Dolan said the Refugee Office plans to have meetings with refugees to support them and answer any questions they might have.
Gray said the Vermont Afghan Alliance will also work with attorneys statewide “to support Afghans as issues arise and reviews or re-examination happens.”
