The horrific terrorist attack on National Guard members Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe by a 29-year-old Afghan national has rightly prompted the Trump administration to order a re-vetting of all Afghan nationals who were admitted into the United States since 2021 and a reinvestigation of all immigrants from 19 nations with a high terrorism nexus, including Afghanistan.
However, a small cadre of self-appointed “Afghan rescuers” has sought to paint this terrorist attack as an unfortunate outlier — a byproduct of post-traumatic stress disorder, mental illness, personal vendetta, or statistics — rather than the predictable result of a compromised U.S. vetting process and former President Joe Biden-era open-border immigration policies.
The Thanksgiving week terrorist attack occurred despite the Trump administration’s wise decision earlier in 2025 to pause nearly all refugee admissions under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. However, that decision was undermined by the State Department’s Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts office, which used the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa pipeline and exemptions to the USRAP pause to continue bringing Afghan nationals from the refugee camp in Doha to the U.S. — including this very month.
These actions in defiance of U.S. immigration policy show a naivete of the hostility many Afghans hold toward Western values, as well as their willingness to hide that hostility to improve their families’ economic prospects. In fact, long-standing U.S. refugee policy requires that an applicant must have a well-founded fear of persecution, in this case by the Taliban. Yet U.S. officials have documented cases of Afghan refugees traveling back to their home country after receiving legal permanent resident status in the U.S.
After the tragedy of the failed war in Afghanistan, Americans admirably sought to rescue Afghans who were under threat from the Taliban — especially those Afghans who had worked with our military, intelligence, and diplomatic professionals. Had those Afghans been thoroughly vetted with careful, thorough scrutiny of their documentation, family and tribal relationships, travel history, and digital footprint, unacceptable security vulnerabilities would have been avoided. Most importantly, the U.S. could have rewarded those Afghans who were both deserving and at true risk of persecution, while preserving the security of the homeland.
Yet multiple current and former State Department and Department of Homeland Security officials, and even some Afghan immigrants themselves, have reported a vetting process that was hurried, typically incomplete, rife with fraud and bribery, and in some instances skipped almost entirely — all due to pressure from the Biden administration to process as many evacuees as possible. Operation Allies Welcome, which became Enduring Welcome and the CARE office, was the Biden administration’s signature program to relocate over 200,000 Afghans to the U.S. from 2021 to 2024.
It’s no secret that the U.S. collaborates with those who hold dramatically different views on morality from the average American. In retrospect, it’s clear some of those evacuees were sympathetic to the Taliban and viewed Western values as an offense to Islam. In fact, many interpreters who received SIVs seem to have a form of “buyer’s remorse,” as evidenced by the State Department’s 2024 Country Fraud Summary for Afghanistan, which states that many SIV recipients later return to their home country.
Jamal Wali, an Afghan SIV recipient who shot and injured two police officers in Fairfax, Virginia, during a traffic stop, is a textbook example of this post-immigration change of heart. After finding life in the U.S. harder than expected, the 36-year-old man was pulled over for expired tags in April 2025. Moments before he pulled out a firearm and fired, he yelled to the police that he “should have served with f***ing Taliban. They’re better than you.” So much for the argument that SIVs were appropriately vetted.
It’s now clear that Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the alleged shooter of Beckstrom and Wolfe, was of a similar mindset. This terrorist was brought into our country under the Biden administration and granted asylum earlier this year. According to multiple news reports, he worked as a member of a strike force in Kandahar supported by the CIA. It’s likely his work with the CIA was considered proof of his loyalty to American values rather than economic motivation or a desire to mete out tribal revenge.
National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent stated, “It is true that the terrorist who conducted the attack in D.C. was ‘vetted’ by the intelligence community, however he was only vetted to serve as a soldier to fight against the Taliban, [al Qaeda], and ISIS in Afghanistan, he was NOT vetted for his suitability to come to America and live among us as a neighbor, integrate into our communities, or eventually become an American citizen. During Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, his administration negligently used the vetting standard described above as the standard for being brought directly into the U.S., foregoing (sic) previous vetting standards applied to Special Immigrant Visas and any common sense vetting or concern for Americans. As a result, over 85,000 Afghans—including individuals with backgrounds similar to this shooter— were rapidly admitted into our country without the rigorous vetting that has protected us in the past.”
The self-appointed Afghan rescue machine says time and time again that we evacuated the Afghans who provided faithful service on behalf of the U.S. government. But it is self-delusion to think all these individuals did so out of the goodness of their hearts or out of a love for Western civilization. An honest assessment of the motivations of most Afghans who worked for the U.S. must take into account that they were well-compensated for their efforts.
Many Afghans were driven by a combination of financial necessity and the hope of eventual immigration when they chose to work alongside U.S. forces. In a country where the average monthly wage was around $150, interpreter positions offered salaries up to 10 times the average. Dangerous assignments qualified for hazard pay, and interpreters working at bases received free lodging, meals, and medical care.
The result was that these jobs were among the best-compensated in Afghanistan. At the same time, Afghans working for the U.S. understood that their service would qualify them for the SIV program. While many Afghans no doubt served for selfless reasons, the immediate economic opportunity, combined with the long-term possibility of lawful migration to the U.S., formed a powerful dual incentive that shaped the workforce.
While the pro-Afghan political machine emphasizes the debt they claim we owe the people of Afghanistan and want to bring in tens of thousands more Afghans, it is imperative that the U.S. government put the needs of the American people first. DHS, the State Department, and the FBI must take immediate action to identify, arrest, and deport all nationals of Afghanistan who present a threat to our national security.
OPINION: SUNSET THE DIVERSITY LOTTERY PROGRAM
We condemn any efforts to bypass or otherwise frustrate the immigration pause ordered by President Donald Trump for citizens of Afghanistan. We stand ready to work with members of Congress and the executive branch to safeguard our borders and homeland further.
It is increasingly clear that the decision by the Biden administration, joined by a number of misguided Republicans, to allow over 200,000 under-vetted Afghans inside the U.S. was a grave mistake. So far, that mistake has claimed one innocent American life and drastically harmed another. Only a clear-eyed look at how this happened and why will prevent the victimization of more innocent Americans.
Phillip Linderman is the chairman of the Ben Franklin Fellowship.
