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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under former President Joe Biden promised to “rapidly and safely” resettle Afghan allies to the United States, but multiple sources have confirmed that the D.C. National Guard shooter came under the same Biden-era program in 2021.
Biden responded to the “targeted” attack in D.C. just before news broke of how the alleged shooter, 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Laqanwal, entered the United States under humanitarian parole through Operation Ally’s Welcome. According to DHS and FBI sources, he has been allowed to remain in the country legally.
In 2021, amid the Afghan withdrawal debacle, Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas promised to “rapidly and safely” resettle thousands of Afghan allies to the United States and confirmed that DHS had refused evacuees entry to the US due to “derogatory” information received during the vetting process.
Following the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, which left the country overrun by the Taliban, the Biden administration launched a major campaign to support and rehabilitate vulnerable Afghans, including those who had helped US troops in the past.
Two National Guard members shot near White House, Afghan national suspect in custody: ‘targeted’
Due to the hasty nature of the withdrawals, as well as broader concerns over immigration and prole-release policies, concerns arose over who the country was letting in.
Mayorkas said during a September 2021 press conference that 120,000 people had been evacuated from Afghanistan since the beginning of the US withdrawal a few months earlier. The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center found that in August 2021, nearly 800 aircraft evacuated thousands of people over a period of just 17 days.
A defined image of Afghans running after a US military plane leaving Kabul amid the disastrous withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
At the time, Mayorkas advocated for stronger biometric screening and vetting processes – both in the US and in transit countries – to ensure that everyone entering the country is properly screened.
In response to a question from Fox News’ Jake Gibson at the time, Mayorkas confirmed that individuals with “derogatory information” had already been flagged during the investigative process, but did not specify the number of people flagged.
Mayorkas assured that 400 U.S. Customs and Border Patrol personnel and the Transportation Security Administration would be brought in to assist. Part of the effort included housing and screening refugees from Pentagon-designated military bases before they entered the United States.
The division refers to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as members of the Taliban. (Aaron Sabawoon/Anadolu via Getty Images and Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Sources said Lakhanwal, who entered the US in September 2021 after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, was allowed to stay in the US under Operation Ally’s Welcome. Authorities are investigating the shooting as a possible act of international terrorism. Two West Virginia National Guard soldiers are in critical condition after being shot in the head during an apparently targeted attack not far from the White House, FBI officials confirmed.
During comments Wednesday night, President Donald Trump called Biden “a disastrous president” and “the worst president in the history of our country.”
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He also ridiculed the former president for flying Lacanval “on those infamous flights that everyone was talking about.”
“Nobody knew who was coming, nobody knew anything about it,” Trump said of the Afghan evacuation process under Biden. He also criticized broader parole and immigration policies under Biden, claiming that Lacanwal’s “situation was escalated under a law signed under President Biden.”
“This attack highlights the greatest national security threat our country faces,” Trump said. He announced that the government “must now double-check every single alien entering our country under Biden.”
Trump also appeared to suggest the death penalty for Lakanwal, concluding his address by saying, “We will bring the perpetrators of this barbaric attack to swift and certain justice – if the bullet is headed in the opposite direction – (inaudible).”
National Guard soldiers stand behind crime scene tape at a corner in downtown Washington, Nov. 26, 2025. According to law enforcement, two National Guard soldiers were shot a few blocks from the White House. (Drew Angerer/AFP via Getty Images)
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Meanwhile, former President Biden responded to the tragic DC attack, but his comments came before news of how the shooter entered the United States.
“Jill and I are saddened that two members of the National Guard were shot outside the White House,” Biden posted on Twitter.
“Violence of any kind is unacceptable, and we must all stand united against it. We are praying for service members and their families.”
Fox News Digital contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment on the news that Lacanval came to the United States under the Biden-era program, but did not receive a response. Efforts to reach former DHS Secretary Mayorkas at the time of publication were also unsuccessful.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Kelly Lacko contributed to this report.
