Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that the Afghan suspect behind the shooting of two National Guard soldiers — one dead — in Washington D.C. last week was likely “radicalized since he’s been here in this country.”
Noem shared this conclusion made by law enforcement on Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” and on ABC News’ “This Week.”
“We do believe it was through connections in his home community and state, and we’re going to continue to talk to those who interacted with him,” Noem said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, came to the U.S. in August 2021 as part of Operation Allies Welcome, which coincided with the U.S. military forces’ withdrawal from Afghanistan under the Biden administration. Lakanwal was a member of a CIA-trained strike force, which required stringent vetting for him to be a part of. He was granted asylum under the Trump administration in April this year.
Noem, echoing other accusations made by Trump officials, blamed the Biden administration of not properly vetting Lakanwal as well as tens of thousands of other Afghans airlifted out of Afghanistan.
However, “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker stated that Lakanwal was granted asylum by the Trump administration and explicitly asked Noem if the Trump administration vetted him before giving him the seal of approval. Noem then shared that was supposed to be done prior to Lakanwal being brought to the United States.
“The vetting process happens when the person comes into the country, and Joe Biden completely did not vet any of these individuals,” Noem said.
“This individual waited until he got into the United States and then that application for asylum was opened under the Joe Biden administration, when he was the president in the White House and allowed that to go forward with the information that they provided. That’s the Biden administration’s responsibility.”
Noem also shared that President Donald Trump has created a new screening process to vet asylum seekers.
“The individuals who are here in this country on that program need to be vetted under our standards that we’re implementing under President Trump to ensure that they even should be in our country and, if they’re not, removed immediately,” Noem said.
Last week, the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shared on X that “USCIS has halted all asylum decisions until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”
Noem said that the asylum process will resume once the backlog of asylum cases requiring vetting is cleared.