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Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lit for the season

admin - Latest News - December 4, 2025
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Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lit for the season



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Dec. 3, 2025, 4:29 PM ESTBy Nicole Acevedo and Rich SchapiroFear, stress and worry have gripped the lives of thousands of Afghans living in the United States since an Afghan national was accused of shooting two National Guard members near the White House last week — leading the Trump administration to aggressively expand its efforts to crack down on legal immigration from Afghanistan. In Florida, a former Afghan military member who fought alongside U.S. armed forces in his homeland worries about people in his community being unfairly targeted by immigration officials. An Afghan father working as a ride-share service driver in Portland, Oregon, stopped having conversations with his passengers fearing possible hateful retribution, and an Afghan scholar in Washington, D.C., is warning against “turning this incident into a broad judgment about Afghan migrants.” Across the nation, Afghans have condemned the shooting that killed Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and critically wounded Andrew Wolfe, 24, and expressed their condolences to the families of both National Guard members. But they also criticized the shift in immigration policy based on the actions of one person. Among those critics is Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Maulvi Amir Khan Muttaqi, who on Wednesday called the shooting “an individual act” that “has nothing to do with Afghanistan and its respectable people.” “There’s no question that what was done was horrible,” said Yahya Haqiqi, president and chief executive officer of the Afghan Support Network, a nonprofit in Oregon. “The problem is, why is it coming back to the larger community?” “It’s like, somebody on your street commits a crime, and you take the whole neighborhood to jail,” Haqiqi told NBC News. After the suspected gunman was identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan asylee, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has halted all asylum decisions for applicants from 19 countries deemed as “high risk” by the Trump administration in June, including Afghanistan.Lakanwal, who worked for the U.S. military during the war against Afghanistan, came to the United States under the Biden administration’s emergency effort to resettle thousands of at-risk Afghans during the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in 2021. A refugee in the United States, Lakanwal then applied for asylum, which was granted to him in April during the Trump administration. Trump administration officials have blamed Biden-era policies for allowing Lakanwal into the country. On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said in an email that the “Trump Administration is reviewing all immigration benefits granted by the Biden administration to aliens from Countries of Concern.” The spokesperson did not say whether the president was considering reviewing asylum cases granted during his own administration, as it was in Lakanwal’s case.”The Trump Administration is making every effort to ensure individuals becoming citizens are the best of the best. Citizenship is a privilege, not a right,” the DHS spokesperson added. “We will take no chances when the future of our nation is at stake.”The Trump administration had already halted refugee resettlement from Afghanistan at the beginning of the year and issued a travel ban on 19 countries, including Afghanistan, over the summer — though there was an exception for applicants for Special Immigrant Visas. But following the recent shooting, the Trump administration has pretty much blocked legal immigration from the country. USCIS has stopped processing all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals indefinitely. USCIS Director Joseph B. Edlow said his agency also launched a “reexamination of every Green Card” granted to people from the 19 countries previously banned from entering the U.S., and the State Department announced it “paused visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passport.” The announcements sent a chilling wave of uncertainty among the more than 190,000 Afghans resettled in the United States since 2021. On Monday, Haqiqi was peppered with phone calls from community members in Oregon seeking answers, especially those in the process of reuniting with relatives left behind in Afghanistan during the chaos of the 2021 evacuation, he said. Among those worried is an Afghan father in Portland who is a green-card holder. Speaking with NBC News, he asked not to be named out of fear his legal immigration may be jeopardized as USCIS begins to re-examine green cards issued to Afghans. “I feel sad and worried that innocent Afghans might face more judgment,” he said. “We just want peace.” A doctor on the front lines of the pandemic in Afghanistan, he was forced to flee his homeland after his safety and that of his family were under threat because of his public health work with international partners and prominent medical institutions. He came to the United States last year on a Special Immigrant Visa and now has a green card. Being able to legally live and work permanently in the United States has allowed him to study for an extensive three-part exam required to practice medicine in the States; all while working as a ride-share service driver to support his family and adapting to a new country. “Being a doctor is not something impossible here in the U.S., but it is very hard. It’s very difficult,” he said, adding he already passed part one of the medical licensing exam and is getting ready for part two next year. Like him, most Afghans who came to the U.S. are searching for safety, opportunity and a better life, he said. “We all respect this country and its law, so when something like this happens, it makes the whole community feel sad and concerned.” “We are a part of this community. We are all sad, like all Americans,” he added. Other Afghans in Oregon expressed concerns over their work authorizations since they’re tied to their legal immigration status, and renewals are among the immigration requests being halted indefinitely, Haqiqi said. Abdul Wahid Gulrani, an Afghan refugee who fled violence and extremism in search of safety and is now a visiting scholar at George Washington University, in D.C., said it is important to emphasize that Afghans who come to the United States after the collapse of their homeland remain “overwhelmingly law-abiding despite facing serious financial, psychological, legal, and social challenges.” “Tens of thousands of newly arrived Afghans are working hard to rebuild their lives, study, work, volunteer, and integrate into American society,” Gulrani said in an email. “A single act should not be used to justify unnecessary restrictions on legal migration, to reinforce prejudice, or to push emotional, reaction-based policies.” In Florida, Abdullah Khan, an Afghan national with a green card, said his community fears being targeted by immigration officials based on the actions of the suspected gunman. “This is one bad person,” Khan said. “The government should not treat us like we are all the same.” Immigration authorities are also stepping up their efforts to locate and apprehend more than 1,860 Afghans across the country who have been given final deportation orders but are not currently in detention, The New York Times reported on Tuesday. Khan served as a member of an elite military unit of Afghans known as the National Mine Reduction Group, or NMRG, who would go out in front of U.S. Special Forces members during missions. His team’s main job was to identify and disable improvised explosive devices, though it was not uncommon for them to fight alongside their American counterparts during Taliban ambushes. That’s why Khan said he was horrified to learn that an Afghan who had also worked with U.S. forces was suspected of shooting the two National Guards members last week. “It’s a terrible act,” Khan said. “All of us from Afghanistan are very upset about what happened.” As Afghans like him face the prospect of having their green cards re-examined, Khan said he feels safe after receiving assurances from some of his former Special Forces counterparts. “Some of them have reached out to me and said, ‘Don’t worry. We got you. There will be no issue for you guys,’” Khan said.Nicole AcevedoNicole Acevedo is a news reporter for NBC News.Rich Schapiro Rich Schapiro is a reporter with the NBC News national security unit.Mushtaq Yusufzai, Patrick Smith, Dan De Luce, Kelly O’Donnell and Julia Ainsley contributed.
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Dec. 1, 2025, 9:42 PM ESTBy Dennis RomeroThe National Guard member hospitalized in critical condition after a fellow guard member was fatally shot near the White House is improving, West Virginia’s governor said Monday.Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, of the West Virginia Air National Guard, has shown signs of improvement, including responding to a nurse’s request that he display thumbs-up, Gov. Patrick Morrisey said at a news conference.”We were told that he also wiggled his toes,” he said. “So we take that as a positive sign.”Wolfe was hospitalized in critical condition after the attack Wednesday, which that killed Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, of the West Virginia Army National Guard. President Donald Trump said the following day that Wolfe was “fighting for his life.” Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe, the National Guard members who were shot Wednesday blocks from the White House.Nathan Howard / ReutersOn Monday, Morrisey described Wolfe, who is from Martinsburg, as being in serious condition but cautioned against using his update as a definitive medical evaluation. “I’m not the doctor,” he said.Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, is accused in the deadly attack near the White House. Lakanwal, an Afghan national who worked to support U.S. troops in Afghanistan, immigrated to the United States in 2021, under President Joe Biden, and was granted asylum during Trump’s second term.Lakanwal, who was injured, remained hospitalized, officials said. He will be charged with first-degree murder, Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., said last week.In the wake of the attack, the White House said it would halt all asylum decisions and pause issuing visas for people traveling on Afghan passports.D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the shooting “appeared to target these guardsmen.” Both were among the first deployed to the district in August under Trump’s aggressive crime-fighting plan that federalized the D.C. police force. After the shooting, the Trump administration ordered 500 more National Guard troops to be deployed to D.C. Morrisey said that none were requested from West Virginia this time but that the roughly 170 from his state who remain in the city are doing so voluntarily.He said Wolfe’s family, whom he called “wonderful people,” are asking the public to pray for their son. “The mom has been such a positive force,” he said. “She has been asking people across the country to pray for her son. Those prayers are working.”Morrisey said Beckstrom’s family is finalizing memorial arrangements. She was a member of the West Virginia National Guard’s 863rd Military Police Company, according to an Army National Guard statement. She enlisted in June 2023, it said.Over the weekend, multiple events to honor the shooting victims took place across West Virginia and beyond. They included events at churches, on military bases and at the West Virginia high schools both attended. A ceremony was also held Monday at the 130th Airlift Wing headquarters at McLaughlin Air National Guard Base in Charleston, according to the West Virginia National Guard.Maj. Gen. Jim Seward, the state’s adjutant general, said in a video statement Sunday: “Both of these guardsmen have served with honor and distinction. They represent the very best of America.”On Sunday, Trump said he invited the families of both victims to the White House. “I said, ‘When you’re ready,’ because that’s a tough thing,” he said.Dennis RomeroDennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.The Associated Press contributed.
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