Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan man suspected of shooting two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, was in the U.S. after entering the country in 2021 under a program called Operation Allies Welcome. His motives are still unknown.
Here's a look at why the program was set up and how Afghans who entered the U.S. were vetted.
The origins of Operation Allies Welcome
When Kabul fell to the Taliban in August 2021 there were chaotic scenes as thousands of Afghans rushed to the airport desperate to escape. The world watched in horror as some among them were crushed to death in the crowds trying to flee.
The U.S. exit from Afghanistan happened during former President Joe Biden's term, but it was set in motion by the first Trump administration, which signed a deal with the Taliban in 2020 to withdraw after two decades in the country.
On announcing the end of the war on Aug. 31, 2021, Biden hailed the U.S. evacuation of Afghans as unprecedented and vowed to continue to assist those under threat.
"As for the Afghans, we and our partners have airlifted 100,000 of them," he said in an address. "We will continue to work to help more people leave the country who are at risk. And we're far from done."
Two days before this address he had instructed the Department of Homeland Security to "lead and coordinate ongoing efforts across the federal government to support vulnerable Afghans, including those who worked alongside us in Afghanistan for the past two decades, as they safely resettle in the United States."
Those efforts were called Operation Allies Welcome (OAW). The program was set up to allow Afghans — especially those who might be targeted by the Taliban for having worked with allied forces in their 20 years in Afghanistan — to enter the U.S. for two years on parole without permanent immigration status. They were expected to then apply for other means to stay in the country, like asylum.
About 40% of those who came were eligible for Special Immigrant Visas because of the great risks they took to help the U.S., or were a family member of someone who helped the U.S., according to the Department of Homeland Security.
OAW was in place for about one year and then shifted to a longer-term program called Operation Enduring Welcome. Almost 200,000 Afghans resettled in the U.S. under both programs.
How were they vetted?
DHS said the Afghans underwent "rigorous" vetting to ensure they did not pose a national security threat. Some 400 personnel across U.S. agencies conducted the checks which involved "biometric and biographic screenings conducted by intelligence, law enforcement, and counterterrorism professionals," the agency said.
"This process includes reviewing fingerprints, photos, and other biometric and biographic data for every single Afghan before they are cleared to travel to the United States," it said.
After arriving in the U.S. the Afghans were further processed at U.S. military bases before being allowed into the community.
However, the program did come under some criticism from Republicans who said the Afghans were not all properly vetted. In 2024, the DHS Office of Inspector General released a report which admitted to some failings, including data inaccuracies in some of the files of Afghans who came through the program.
Another report was released in June this year by the Department of Justice looking at the FBI's role in OAW.
"According to the FBI, the need to immediately evacuate Afghans overtook the normal processes required to determine whether individuals attempting to enter the United States pose a threat to national security, which increased the risk that bad actors could try to exploit the expedited evacuation," the report said.
It noted 55 individuals evacuated from Afghanistan under OAW were later identified on terrorism watch lists. For the most part though, the report concluded the FBI had done a good job flagging potential threats and the majority of evacuees were not considered security risks.
What's the situation for Afghans now?
After Wednesday's shooting of the National Guard members, President Trump railed against OAW on social media, saying: "We must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country."
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said "the Biden Administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. Government, including CIA."
Shortly after the shootings, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it had stopped processing immigration applications from Afghan nationals.
But tens of thousands of Afghans are already in limbo. Around the world, over 40,000 Afghans are still actively pursuing resettlement in the U.S., with more than 10,000 approved to relocate by the U.S. government.
Hundreds of veterans have urged the administration not to abandon those who fought alongside the Americans during the war.
Copyright 2025 NPR