AURORA | Aurora Democratic Rep. Jason Crow is urging the Trump administration to reverse sweeping immigration actions targeting Afghan nationals, arguing the policies amount to collective punishment following a deadly shooting involving an Afghan suspect.
Crow, who served three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, said in a statement that he was “horrified” by the shooting and stressed that “violence like this is unacceptable.”
He said, however, that exploiting the tragedy to justify broad immigration restrictions would not make the country safer.
In a letter sent Dec. 18 to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Crow and four other House Democrats condemned what they described as an overreaching and excessive response to the Nov. 26 shooting of two National Guard members. Specialist Sarah Beckstrom was killed and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe was wounded in the attack. Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who was also shot during the confrontation, has been charged with murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
“We wholeheartedly condemn the shooter’s actions and expect that he will be held accountable for his actions to the fullest extent of the law,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter signed by Crow, Reps. Scott Peters of California, Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, Doris Matsui of California and Derek Tran of California. “There is no acceptable justification for the use of violence.”
But they warned that the administration’s subsequent moves, which include halting nearly all immigration processing for Afghans, place vulnerable, law-abiding people at risk, including those who aided U.S. forces during the 20-year war in Afghanistan.
“The horrific actions of one individual should not be used to vilify every individual from Afghanistan who legally seeks to live in the United States,” lawmakers said in the letter.
Crow’s office said the administration has suspended the Special Immigrant Visa program for Afghans, terminated Temporary Protected Status for Afghanistan, paused all refugee resettlement, included Afghanistan in a blanket travel ban announced in June and eliminated an exception allowing Afghan SIV holders to travel, effective Jan. 1, 2026.
Crow has previously sponsored legislation aimed at expanding and expediting visas for Afghan allies and founded a congressional working group focused on honoring commitments made during the war.
The letter also cited a publicized pause on asylum decisions and a review of immigration benefits granted since January 2021 for people from countries on the travel ban list, including Afghanistan.
“These actions embrace a sledgehammer rather than a scalpel,” the lawmakers wrote, calling collective blame “dangerous, reactionary, and short-sighted.”
The concerns raised by Crow and his colleagues come as Afghan immigrants across the United States report heightened enforcement and fear. In Sacramento, California, home to one of the nation’s largest Afghan communities, immigration lawyers and volunteers say federal authorities have stepped up arrests and canceled interviews in the days following the shooting.
Since Nov. 26, the Associated Press in reports published in the Sentinel has tracked roughly two dozen arrests of Afghan immigrants, most in northern California. Volunteers monitoring Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities say at least nine Afghan men were arrested last week at the federal building in Sacramento after being summoned for check-ins.
Many of those detained had sought asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border within the past two years, while others were among the approximately 76,000 Afghans evacuated to the United States under Operation Allies Welcome following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Dec. 1 that the Trump administration is “actively reexamining” all Afghan nationals who entered the U.S. during the Biden administration.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said the agency is focused on identifying and arresting “known or suspected terrorists and criminal illegal aliens,” though immigration advocates say many of those detained have no criminal records.
In one case described by a volunteer in Sacramento, an Afghan father was arrested when he reported to an ICE appointment, despite complying with all requirements. His family had fled Afghanistan after threats from the Taliban because a relative assisted the U.S. military, according to the volunteer, who asked that the family not be identified out of fear of further arrests.
Immigration attorneys say asylum applications for Afghans have been paused and interviews canceled, even as applicants from other countries continue to be processed.
Critics, including Democratic Rep. Ami Bera of California, say Afghans are paying the price for the actions of one individual. The suspect in the shooting, Lakanwal, was granted asylum earlier this year, according to the advocacy group #AfghanEvac.
Crow and the other lawmakers emphasized that Afghans seeking entry through SIVs, refugee programs, humanitarian parole or asylum undergo extensive vetting by multiple U.S. agencies, often over months or years.
“Abandoning those who made the courageous choice to stand beside us signals to those we may need as allies in the future that we cannot be trusted to honor our commitments,” lawmakers said in their letter. “That is a mistake we cannot afford.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.