Judge Makes Trump’s Crackdown Harder After Illegal Is Accused Of Killing Guardsman

A federal judge on Friday struck down a Trump administration policy that froze immigration proceedings for applicants from 39 countries after an Afghan refugee was accused of killing a National Guardsman and wounding another in Washington, D.C., according to the Associated Press. 

U.S. District Chief Judge John McConnell Jr. ruled that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services exceeded its legal authority when it halted final decisions on asylum, work permit, green card, and citizenship applications from nationals of dozens of countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

The policy was enacted after prosecutors accused Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, of carrying out a deadly shooting in the nation’s capital the day before Thanksgiving.

Prosecutors say Lakanwal drove from Bellingham, Washington, to Washington, D.C., and opened fire on National Guard troops, killing U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and wounding U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24. 

Wolfe, who underwent skull reconstruction surgery, is making a slow—but remarkable—recovery.

Lakanwal pleaded not guilty to nine charges, including first-degree murder.

Lakanwal entered the United States during former President Joe Biden’s administration after serving alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan in a CIA-backed unit, The Daily Wire previously reported. 

After the shooting, President Donald Trump called for the death penalty and signed off on the immigration restrictions, citing national security concerns.

“This order aims to safeguard U.S. citizens from aliens who may seek to commit terrorist acts, pose threats to national security, promote hateful ideologies, or exploit immigration laws for malicious purposes,” the administration said at the time.

In the 135-page opinion issued Friday, McConnell sharply criticized the policy and the government’s implementation of it.  

McConnell said the restrictions “threw the lives of countless immigrants living in the United States into indeterminate legal limbo” and said USCIS exceeded its legal authority, failed to explain its policy changes, and accused USCIS of leaning on “anti-immigrant sentiments.” 

“Over six months later, many of those individuals remain without work, without legal status, and without any meaningful ability to plan for their futures,” Judge McConnell wrote.  “In legal terms, that means USCIS’s actions are contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious.”

Democracy Forward, a legal nonprofit that helped represent the immigration groups behind the lawsuit, celebrated the ruling.

“This ruling reaffirms a basic principle: the federal government cannot shut down lawful immigration pathways or discriminate against people based on where they come from,” Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward, said. 

The decision marks a significant defeat for the White House, which is expected to appeal.