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Shooting of National Guard members prompts flurry of US immigration restrictions

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A makeshift memorial of flags, flowers and other items is seen Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, outside of Farragut West Station, near the site where two National Guard members were shot in Washington. (AP)
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Members of the National Guard patrol the National Mall December 1, 2025, in Washington, DC. (AFP)
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Updated 02 December 2025
AP
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Shooting of National Guard members prompts flurry of US immigration restrictions

  • The Trump administration says the new policies are necessary to ensure that those entering the country — or are already here — do not pose a security threat
Updated 02 December 2025
AP

WASHINGTON: Since last week’s shooting of two National Guard members in the nation’s capital by a suspect who is an Afghan national, the Trump administration announced a flurry of policies aimed at making it harder for some foreigners to enter or stay in the country.
The administration said it was pausing asylum decisions, reexamining green card applications for people from countries “of concern” and halting visas for Afghans who assisted the US war effort.
Days before the shooting, a memo obtained by The Associated Press said the administration would review the cases of all refugees who entered the US during the Biden administration.
The stepped up effort to restrict immigration has been harshly criticized by refugee advocates and those who work with Afghans, saying it amounts to collective punishment. Critics are also saying it is a waste of government resources to reopen cases that have already been processed.
The Trump administration says the new policies are necessary to ensure that those entering the country — or are already here — do not pose a security threat.
Here’s a look at the major changes announced over roughly a week:
All asylum decisions suspended
The director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Joseph Edlow, said on the social platform X last week that asylum decisions will be paused “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”
Besides the post, no formal guidance has been put forward, so details remain scarce about the planned pause.
People seeking asylum must show to US officials a threat of persecution if they were sent back to their home country, whether because of race, nationality or other grounds. If they’re granted asylum, they’re allowed to stay in the US and eventually apply for a green card and then citizenship.
The Afghan suspect in the National Guard shooting was granted asylum earlier this year, according to advocate group #AfghanEvac.
The right to apply for asylum was already restricted by the Trump administration. In January, Trump issued an executive order essentially halting asylum for people who have come into the country through the southern border. Those cases generally go through immigration courts which are overseen by the Department of Justice.
USCIS oversees the asylum process for foreigners the government isn’t trying to remove via immigration courts. While Trump’s January order didn’t affect those cases, Edlow’s social media post suggests they will now come under additional scrutiny. Edlow did not say how long the agency’s pause on asylum decisions would last or what happens to people while those decisions are paused.
Caseloads have been rising for all types of asylum applications. The number of asylum cases at USCIS rose from 241,280 in 2022 to a record 456,750 in 2023, according to the Office of Homeland Security Statistics.
A focus on countries ‘of concern’
On Nov. 27, Edlow said his agency was conducting a “full scale, rigorous reexamination” of every green card for people he said come from “every country of concern.”
“American safety is non negotiable,” Edlow said.
The agency said in a press release that same day that it was issuing new guidance that could make it tougher for people from 19 countries the administration considers “high-risk,” including Afghanistan, when they apply for immigration benefits such as applying for green cards or to stay in the US longer.
The administration had already banned travel to the US for citizens from 12 of those countries and restricted access for people from seven others.
No visas for Afghans
Other stricter measures are also directed at Afghans.
On Nov. 26, USCIS said it would be suspending all “immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals.” That would affect Afghans already living in the US who are applying for green cards or work permits or permission to bring family members to the US.
Separately, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced late Friday on X that the State Department has temporarily stopped issuing visas for all people traveling on Afghan passports.
The Trump administration had already severely limited travel and immigration from Afghanistan. The one avenue that had remained open was the Special Immigrant Visa program. Created by Congress, it allowed Afghans who closely supported the US war effort in Afghanistan and faced retribution because of their work to emigrate to America.
But the State Department’s announcement means even that avenue is now closed.
According to #AfghanEvac, a group that advocates for Afghans coming to the US, about 180,000 Afghans were in the process of applying for the SIV program.
A review of refugees admitted under the Biden administration

Even before the shooting of two National Guard members, the Trump administration was planning a sweeping review of tens of thousands of immigrants who entered the US during the Biden administration as part of the US Refugee Assistance Program.
That program, first launched in 1980, oversees the process by which people fleeing persecution can come to the US Refugees are distinct from people seeking asylum, although they meet the same criteria. Refugees have to apply and wait outside the US to be admitted while asylum-seekers do so once they reach the US.
Trump suspended the refugee program the day he took office and only a trickle of refugees have been admitted since then, either white South Africans or people admitted as part of a lawsuit seeking to restart the refugee program.
Then on Nov. 21, Edlow said in a memo obtained by The Associated Press that the administration was going to review all refugees admitted to the US during the Biden administration. That’s nearly 200,000 refugees.
Advocates say refugees already undergo rigorous vetting.

Topics: US National Guard United States us shooting US immigration

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Georgia’s street dogs stir affection, fear, national debate

Updated 3 sec ago
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Georgia’s street dogs stir affection, fear, national debate

Updated 3 sec ago
TBILISI: At a bus stop in central Tbilisi, two tagged dogs dozed on a bench as some commuters smiled at them and others cast angry glances.
In the streets of the Georgian capital, such scenes are part of daily life: community-fed “yard dogs,” yellow municipal tags on their ears, lounge outside bakeries, metro entrances and school gates.
The free-roaming canines stir both affection and fear. What to do with their swelling numbers — in the tens of thousands in Tbilisi alone — has become a nationwide dilemma.
Stray animals tied the top spot for public concerns in a poll by the National Democratic Institute, with 22 percent of respondents naming it the most pressing issue.
Many welcome the dogs as a symbol of Tbilisi, a showcase of Georgian hospitality and the warm street life that draws tourists to the capital.
“Street dogs in Georgia have made a more positive impact on tourism and the image of Georgia than people and culture alone,” said journalist Elena Nikoleisvili, 51, who helps street dogs.
“If anything, these adorable creatures should be the symbol of the capital — like the cats of Istanbul.”
On cafe terraces, regulars slip bones under tables as mongrels curl up between patrons’ feet, while each neighborhood and cul-de-sac has its own local canine mascot.

- ‘Drop in the ocean’ -

Others worry about safety.
“They bark and scare folks,” said plumber Oleg Berlovi, 43.
“Two weeks ago, a dog bit my kid and we needed shots. Animals are great, but they need looking after.”
According to the World Health Organization, dogs are the main vectors in human rabies cases globally.
Georgia still records a handful of human deaths from the disease each year and administers tens of thousands of post-exposure treatments, according to the Global Alliance for Rabies Control.
City officials say the answer is steady, humane population control.
“The state’s policy is to manage these animals by the most humane methods possible and to reduce to a minimum the number of stray dogs on the streets,” Nicoloz Aragveli, who heads Tbilisi city hall’s animal monitoring agency, told AFP.
A recent count put the capital’s stray dog population at about 29,000, and around 74 percent have been neutered, Aragveli said.
“We plan to do more so that we reach 100 percent,” he said.
The city runs weekly school lessons and a door-to-door registration drive to raise awareness and track owned pets.
Legislative changes have also tightened penalties for abandoning animals and for violating care and ownership rules — steps officials say will help halt the flow of pets to the streets.
But journalist Nikoleisvili said the authorities only responded after a public backlash, and “could do much more.”
The number of dogs that have been neutered in Tbilisi — around 50,000 over the last decade — is “a drop in the ocean,” she said.

- ‘Guilty party’ -

Volunteers, like theater director Zacharia Dolidze, who builds kennels, also play a big role in caring for the dogs.
“There are days I make 20 kennels. I’ve built about 2,500 in seven years,” the 40-year-old said.
He collects regular donations to help pay for materials.
Shelter operators say there are big gaps in addressing what they call one of Georgia’s biggest issues.
“You can make regulations, but if you cannot enforce them, that’s not going to help,” said Sara Anna Modzmanashvili Kemecsei, who runs a shelter that houses about 50 dogs.
In many regions, “there are absolutely no neutering campaigns.”
“I can’t really see that the government is on top of the issue, so there are lots of volunteers,” she said. “They are really good at managing these animals.”
Politics has also injected fresh uncertainty.
Last year, the government pushed a “foreign influence” law that complicates NGOs’ access to funding from foreign donors such as UK animal welfare charity Mayhew, which runs a program to vaccinate and neuter strays in Tbilisi.
Volunteers meanwhile continue to juggle feeding, sheltering and basic care.
Nino Adeishvili, 50, is a geologist and university lecturer who looks after around 10 dogs.
Her group organizes rabies shots and fundraises on Facebook for deworming, flea treatment and food.
“On the street, a dog is still unprotected,” she said.
“The guilty party is the human.”

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