By Amjad Qaimkhani
WASHINGTON: Members of the Afghan community living in the United States appealed to President Donald Trump not to suspend their immigration applications in the wake of the shooting that left National Guard personnel dead near the White House.
The call came after an Afghan national was accused of opening fire on National Guard officers in Washington, prompting the Trump administration to immediately freeze all Afghan immigration requests. The decision sent shockwaves through Afghan families already waiting anxiously for their cases to be processed.
Community leaders said the incident was the criminal act of an individual and should not be used to penalize an entire population. In a statement, the American Afghan Community condemned the attack and said it neither reflected their values nor represented their community.
One Afghan man, speaking to British media, urged the administration to reconsider its response. He said the community feared that the actions of one person would undo years of effort spent building trust in their adopted country. Another Afghan resident said many people had fled Afghanistan because of threats from the Taliban, only to find new uncertainties in the United States.
He described a sense of despair gripping families who had seen their hopes of safety suddenly put on hold. “We escaped problems in Afghanistan, and now we are facing them here too,” he said. The freeze on immigration applications deepened an already fraught moment for Afghans trying to rebuild their lives abroad, leaving many unsure of what the administration’s next steps would be.
