Righteous anger and fierce determination
En las afueras de una estación de metro en Washington D.C., a pocos metros de la Casa Blanca, un hombre abrió fuego contra dos miembros de la Guardia Nacional el 26 de noviembre de 2025, desencadenando una respuesta política que trasciende el acto mismo. El atacante, un ciudadano afgano que había combatido junto a fuerzas estadounidenses en Kandahar, llegó al país bajo un programa de asilo diseñado para proteger a quienes arriesgaron su vida al lado de América. En la tensión entre la gratitud debida y el miedo renovado, la administración Trump suspendió indefinidamente el procesamiento de solicitudes de inmigración afganas, convirtiendo una tragedia individual en un punto de inflexión para miles de vidas en espera.
- Dos soldados de la Guardia Nacional yacen hospitalizados en estado crítico tras ser baleados en plena calle, a pasos del corazón del poder estadounidense.
- El atacante no era un desconocido para el sistema: había servido una década en el ejército afgano junto a tropas americanas y obtuvo asilo legal apenas meses antes del ataque.
- Trump declaró el incidente un acto de terrorismo en cuestión de horas, prometiendo consecuencias severas y ordenando una revisión exhaustiva de todos los ingresos afganos recientes.
- El Servicio de Ciudadanía e Inmigración suspendió de forma inmediata e indefinida todas las solicitudes afganas pendientes, dejando en el limbo a miles de personas que colaboraron con Estados Unidos.
- El vicepresidente Vance aprovechó el momento para reforzar el discurso de deportaciones masivas, transformando una herida abierta en argumento político.
El miércoles 26 de noviembre, dos miembros de la Guardia Nacional fueron baleados frente a una estación de metro en Washington D.C., a pocas cuadras de la Casa Blanca. El atacante apareció de repente, abrió fuego y fue herido y detenido por otros soldados presentes. Ambas víctimas fueron trasladadas a hospitales en estado crítico.
El sospechoso, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, de 29 años, había llegado a Estados Unidos en 2021 bajo el programa de asilo creado por la administración Biden tras la retirada de Afganistán. Según su familia, había servido diez años en el ejército afgano en la región de Kandahar, trabajando directamente junto a tropas estadounidenses. No tenía antecedentes penales. Había solicitado asilo a finales de 2024 y recibió aprobación en abril de este año, ya durante el mandato de Trump.
El presidente, que se encontraba en Florida cuando ocurrió el ataque, lo calificó de inmediato como un acto de terrorismo y anunció una revisión integral de todos los ingresos afganos de los últimos años. En pocas horas, el Servicio de Ciudadanía e Inmigración suspendió indefinidamente el procesamiento de todas las solicitudes afganas pendientes. El vicepresidente J.D. Vance utilizó el incidente para exigir deportaciones más agresivas y justificar las políticas migratorias más restrictivas de la administración.
Los dos soldados heridos formaban parte de un contingente de aproximadamente dos mil efectivos que Trump había desplegado en Washington D.C. alegando una emergencia de seguridad. La alcaldesa Muriel Bowser describió el ataque como deliberado y dirigido específicamente contra los guardias. Aunque circularon inicialmente informes erróneos sobre muertes, ambos militares permanecían con vida aunque en estado grave, mientras el debate político seguía escalando.
On Wednesday afternoon, November 26th, two members of the National Guard were shot outside a Metro station in Washington D.C., just blocks from the White House. The attack was swift and deliberate—a man appeared suddenly and opened fire on the uniformed soldiers standing at the entrance. After an exchange of gunfire, the shooter was wounded and detained by other National Guard members. Both victims were rushed to hospitals in critical condition.
The suspect was identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29 years old, an Afghan citizen who had entered the United States in 2021 under an asylum program created by the Biden administration following the American withdrawal from Afghanistan. That program was designed to provide refuge to vulnerable Afghans, particularly those who had worked alongside U.S. forces. According to his family, Lakanwal had served ten years in the Afghan military in the Kandahar region, working directly with American troops. He had no criminal record.
Lakanwal had applied for asylum in late 2024 and received approval in April of this year, during Trump's current term. The timing would become significant within hours.
President Trump, who was in Florida when the shooting occurred, immediately characterized the attack as an act of terrorism. In a video released the same day, he promised the shooter would "pay a very high price" and announced he was ordering a comprehensive review of all Afghan immigration entries from recent years. "We are filled with anguish and pain for those who were struck, but we are also filled with righteous anger and fierce determination," Trump said, pledging to remove from the country any foreign nationals "from any nation that doesn't belong here."
Within hours, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that all pending Afghan immigration applications had been halted indefinitely pending a review of security protocols and vetting procedures. The suspension was sweeping and immediate—no new cases would be processed until further notice.
Vice President J.D. Vance seized on the incident as validation of the administration's restrictive immigration stance. He called for intensified deportation efforts and suggested the attack demonstrated why stricter policies were necessary. The political response was swift and unambiguous: the shooting had become a flashpoint for the broader immigration debate.
The two National Guard members who were shot were part of a contingent of roughly two thousand troops that Trump had deployed to Washington D.C. to address what he described as a security emergency stemming from rising crime in the city. Similar deployments had been sent to other cities governed by Democrats and had been ruled illegal by multiple courts. Mayor Muriel Bowser described the shooting as an intentional, targeted attack on the guards themselves.
Initially, reports suggested both soldiers had been killed, but that information was corrected. Both remained hospitalized in critical condition as the political fallout continued to unfold.
Citações Notáveis
We are filled with anguish and pain for those who were struck, but we are also filled with righteous anger and fierce determination.— President Trump, in video statement
This was an intentional attack: an individual appeared and targeted these guards.— Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does it matter that he entered under Biden's program specifically?
Because it creates a political narrative—it allows the current administration to argue that the previous one's vetting was insufficient, even though his asylum was approved under Trump's watch.
Did he have any warning signs before the attack?
None that appeared in the record. No criminal history, a decade of service alongside American forces. By all official measures, he was vetted and cleared.
So what changed between April approval and November attack?
That's the question no one can answer yet. Something happened in those seven months, but we don't know what.
Is the suspension of all Afghan applications permanent?
It's described as indefinite, which is different. But indefinite suspensions have a way of becoming permanent if the political will shifts.
What happens to Afghans already in the country waiting for decisions?
They're frozen. Their cases don't move. They exist in a kind of limbo while the government reviews what went wrong.
Does this actually make Americans safer?
That depends on whether the problem was the vetting process or something else entirely—something that no security review could have predicted.