Did Rahmanullah Lakanwal appeal his asylum denial and which appellate court reviewed it?
Executive summary
Available reporting says Rahmanullah Lakanwal applied for asylum in December 2024 and — according to multiple U.S. law-enforcement and government sources — was approved in April 2025 (reported dates include April 23) under the Trump administration [1] [2] [3]. None of the supplied sources discuss an appeal of that asylum denial or name an appellate court that reviewed such an appeal; available sources do not mention an appeal or appellate court review [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. What the record in major outlets actually says about Lakanwal’s asylum application
Multiple mainstream outlets report the same timeline: Lakanwal entered the U.S. in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, applied for asylum in December 2024, and was granted asylum in April 2025 — Reuters, CNN, ABC and others quote a government or law-enforcement dossier with those dates [2] [4] [5]. Reuters specifically cites a government file saying the application was approved on April 23, 2025 [1] [2].
2. The distinction between “applied,” “granted” and “appealed” in reporting
Coverage repeatedly states that Lakanwal “applied” and was “approved” or “granted” asylum; those are administrative actions recorded in law-enforcement or immigration files [1] [2] [3]. None of the supplied stories report an earlier asylum denial that was subsequently appealed — they instead describe a single application in late 2024 that culminated in approval in April 2025 [2] [4]. Therefore, claims that he “appealed his asylum denial” are not supported by the provided reporting [1] [2].
3. What the sources explicitly do not report (important gap)
Reports do not describe any prior denial of asylum, any administrative appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), or any judicial appeal in a U.S. circuit court. Available sources make no mention of an appeal process, filing numbers, or an appellate court review; those elements are absent from the current reporting [1] [2] [3] [4].
4. Where confusion or misinformation could arise
Misinformation can emerge when timelines and immigration pathways are conflated. Lakanwal’s 2021 entry via Operation Allies Welcome and a later asylum application in 2024 are separate steps; some social posts and summaries have merged them or misstated which administration “granted” asylum [2] [5] [6]. Snopes and major outlets note that multiple news organizations reported grant-of-asylum in April 2025, but also flagged uncertainty in some details about the precise immigration status and paperwork accompanying his 2021 arrival [6] [5].
5. Competing viewpoints in the record and their agendas
Government and law-enforcement sources supplied the timeline connecting the asylum application and approval; those sources have an interest in explaining vetting processes and outcomes [1] [3]. Political actors — notably the Trump administration — used the incident to justify broad reviews and freezes of asylum and refugee decisions, an explicit policy agenda reflected in Trump statements and DHS actions cited in the coverage [1] [7]. Independent outlets reiterated the law-enforcement timeline but also highlighted gaps in public documentation, producing a mix of factual reporting and political framing [2] [8].
6. Bottom line for the specific question you asked
The supplied reporting documents an asylum application in December 2024 and an approval in April 2025; it does not report that Lakanwal appealed a denial nor that any appellate court reviewed such an appeal. If you need confirmation of an appeal or court review, the current sources do not provide that information [1] [2] [3] [4].