WASHINGTON, D.C. — A newly sworn-in National Guardswoman has died after being shot in a brazen downtown ambush allegedly carried out by an Afghan migrant, triggering an unprecedented nationwide freeze on Afghan immigration.
The 20-year-old soldier, who had taken her oath less than 24 hours before the attack, succumbed to her injuries overnight. She and another Guardsman were gunned down near Farragut Square in the middle of the afternoon, just a short walk from the White House and surrounded by federal buildings, security cameras, and constant law-enforcement presence.
The alleged gunman, an Afghan national who entered the United States in 2021 under the post-evacuation resettlement program and later obtained asylum, remains hospitalized under guard. Investigators say the ambush appeared targeted, though a motive has not yet been publicly identified.
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The Guardswoman’s death has sent shockwaves through Washington, raising intense questions about how an area considered one of the most secure in the nation could become the scene of a deadly attack on uniformed soldiers.
In a dramatic response, U.S. immigration authorities announced they have indefinitely suspended all immigration requests from Afghan nationals, halting the processing of visas, asylum cases, humanitarian parole petitions, and family reunification applications. Officials described the move as a “full stop” while the government conducts a top-to-bottom review of vetting procedures put in place following the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal.
The freeze marks one of the largest and most sudden immigration actions taken in years, instantly affecting tens of thousands of Afghans still waiting for U.S. entry or status decisions.
The second Guardsman shot in the attack remains hospitalized in critical condition.
As investigators continue to examine how a migrant who cleared multiple layers of screening could carry out a deadly ambush in the heart of the federal district, Washington is bracing for mounting scrutiny — and a national debate that is only just beginning.