Vance’s Afghan refugee vetting warnings resurface after DC shooting

Vice President J.D. Vance has long warned about the U.S. refugee vetting process — dating back to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021 and the refugees who came afterward. Now, Vance’s previous statements on the matter have resurfaced following the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington on Wednesday.

law enforcement officials identified the suspect in the shooting as Rehmanullah Lakkanwal, 29, who entered the United States legally in 2021 under the Biden administration’s Operation Welcoming Allies program and sought to help resettle Afghan refugees in the United States.

In 2021, Vance posted a video on social media in response to then-Sen. Ben Sasse, Republican from Nebraska, who said the United States has an obligation to help refugees seeking to leave Afghanistan.

“Yes, let’s help the Afghans who helped us, but let’s make sure we screen them properly so we don’t have a bunch of people who think they should blow themselves up in a mall because someone looked at their wife the wrong way,” Vance said. marine Corps Veteran, He said in the video clip.

The alleged shooter entered the capital under the Afghanistan resettlement process, and Mayorkas vowed it would be done “quickly and safely.”

Vance also claimed that a Pew Research Center poll found that four in 10 Afghans believe suicide bombings are justified to protect Islam.

Fox News Digital was unable to independently confirm the existence of the poll. However, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, an American state-funded media organization, reported on the survey in 2013 with the same statistics.

Vance’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Afghanistan’s senior religious leaders who make up the Afghan Ulema Council have previously issued Islamic rulings prohibiting suicide attacks, and have claimed that such attacks are not in line with Islamic teachings.

More recently, Vance expressed similar concerns in an interview with CBS’s Margaret Brennan in January, where he said: “We have vetting problems in a lot of refugee programs, and we absolutely cannot unleash thousands of unvetted people into our country.”

Who is accused of shooting at the National Guard in the capital? What do you know about the Afghan patriot Rahmanullah Lakanwal?

An undated file photo of Rahmanullah Lakkanwal, the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, November 26, 2025. (Ministry of Justice)

Specifically, Vance pointed to an Afghan national, Nasir Ahmad Tawhidi, who was charged at the time with planning a terrorist attack on or around election Day in 2024. Tawhidi has since pleaded guilty to two terrorism-related charges in June.

Tawhidi and his accomplice Abdullah Hajizadeh, also from Afghanistan, were arrested on October 7, 2024, after they purchased firearms and ammunition from undercover FBI agents, according to the Department of Justice. Court documents allege the two purchased two AK-47 rifles, 500 rounds of ammunition and 10 magazines with the intent of launching a mass casualty attack within the United States.

Zada, 19, was sentenced earlier in November to 15 years in federal prison.

Vance referred to his comments from 2021 on Wednesday after the shootings in Washington, and indicated that future measures will emerge to crack down on the refugee vetting process.

“I remember in 2021 criticizing Biden’s policy of opening the door to unvetted Afghan refugees,” Vance said on Wednesday. “Friends sent me messages calling me a racist. It was a clarifying moment.”

Law enforcement responded after two National Guard members were shot near the White House

“Many of our constituents will demand not just words, but actions, and this is a completely appropriate response,” Vance said Wednesday. He added: “We will bring the shooter to justice first, and then we must redouble our efforts to deport people who have no right to be in our country.”

U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died Thursday from her injuries from Wednesday’s shooting, as did U.S. Air Force Sgt. District of Columbia Attorney General Jeanine Pirro said Andrew Wolfe remains in critical condition.

Fox News Digital first reported that Lakenwal had partnered with the US government, including the CIA, as a member of a partner force in Afghanistan.

File photo of National Guard Officer Sarah Beckstrom, who died following a shooting in Washington, D.C., on the evening of November 26, 2025. (Ministry of Justice)

Details emerge about a CIA unit the National Guard shooter allegedly served with in Afghanistan

In response to the shooting, Trump said in a social media post on Thursday that he would permanently halt immigration from “all third world countries.”

Additionally, USCIS Chief Joseph Edlow said Thursday that, in accordance with Trump’s orders, he “is directing a comprehensive and rigorous re-examination of every green card of every alien from every country of concern.”

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The White House did not provide additional information about which countries would be affected, and referred Fox News Digital to Trump’s social media post.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.