US asylum pause could last 'a long time,' says Trump after Afghan migrant kills National Guardswoman near White House

US President Donald Trump on Sunday (Nov 30) said that the pause on asylum decisions for several foreign nationals, including Afghanistan, could remain in place for what he described as a "long time". This follows the fatal shooting of two National Guard members near the White House last week. One guard, 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, was killed in the attack on November 26, and another remains in critical condition. The suspected gunman, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is a 29-year-old Afghan national who arrived in the United States through a resettlement pathway for Afghans who assisted US intelligence operations during the war. Lakanwal had once been part of a CIA-supported force battling the Taliban and received asylum in April 2025. He has now been charged with first-degree murder.

But how long exactly?

Trump, when asked to specify how long the asylum decision pause would last, vaguely said he had "no time limit" in mind. Calling asylum seekers "no good", he told reporters, "We don't want those people." Trump then asked, "You know why we don't want them? Because many have been no good, and they shouldn't be in our country."

The killing of a National Guardswoman triggered a swift and politically charged reaction from the administration. Trump has framed the shooting as proof that the US immigration system is broken. He blamed what he called loose vetting under former president Joe Biden for Lakanwal's entry to the US during the chaotic Kabul evacuation in 2021.

The Department of Homeland Security said the asylum freeze applies to nationals from 19 countries that have faced travel restrictions since June. The list includes Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran and Myanmar, among others.

A permanent pause in the cards?

Trump had earlier also hinted that the pause could be permanent. Shortly after the shooting, he wrote that he intended to "permanently pause" migration from what he referred to as Third World countries until the US immigration system "recovers."