Who is responsible for allowing Rhamanullah asylum in the US?
Executive summary
Reporting across major outlets says Rahmanullah Lakanwal applied for asylum in December 2024 and — according to multiple law‑enforcement and media sources — his asylum claim was approved in April 2025 during the Trump administration (for example, ABC, CNN and Reuters cite an April 2025 approval) [1] [2] [3]. Available sources do not name the individual adjudicator or single agency official who signed the approval; they attribute the decision to “immigration authorities” or the Trump administration more broadly [4] [2].
1. What the reporting actually says about responsibility
News organisations and law‑enforcement sources describe Lakanwal’s asylum approval as having been granted “by the Trump administration” or “immigration authorities” in April 2025, but they do not identify a single person who personally authorized the grant [5] [2] [4]. Reuters quotes a Trump administration official on background saying Lakanwal applied in December 2024 and was approved April 23, 2025, which frames the approval as an agency action occurring under that presidential administration rather than a named individual’s unilateral act [3].
2. Which agencies would typically handle an asylum approval
While the provided articles refer generically to “immigration authorities” and DHS naming the suspect, the reporting does not detail the specific agency process or which office signed the decision (available sources do not mention the asylum adjudication workflow or which agency component issued the grant) [2] [4]. In current U.S. practice, asylum claims are processed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) asylum officers or by immigration judges in the Justice Department context, but that operational detail is not provided in these sources (not found in current reporting).
3. How outlets link the approval to the presidential administration
Multiple outlets — CNN, ABC, Reuters, BBC, Newsweek and others — phrase the approval as having occurred “under” or “by” the Trump administration and cite sources saying the grant took place in April 2025, a few months into that administration’s term [2] [1] [3] [6] [7]. That framing is political shorthand: it locates the timing of the decision within the Trump presidential administration but does not prove direct personal involvement by President Trump or a named cabinet official in the adjudication [5] [2].
4. Conflicting or corroborating details across outlets
Reporting is consistent about the application timing (December 2024) and an April 2025 approval (multiple outlets cite April 23 in Reuters and others) [3] [8]. Some pieces emphasize fingerprints and background checks reported by CNN or ABC but do not provide full immigration records; the BBC and CNN note the suspect entered under Operation Allies Welcome in 2021 [6] [2]. No outlet among the provided results disputes the core timeline; they differ in emphasis — some foreground national security reactions, others cite unnamed officials or law‑enforcement sources [7] [4].
5. Political and media framing to be aware of
Several reports and commentators treat the asylum grant as a policy outcome of the administration in office at the time, which can serve political arguments for tighter vetting or suspension of Afghan immigration — reactions explicitly invoked by President Trump and reported commentators [4] [7]. Readers should note that assigning responsibility to an “administration” is different from identifying a named adjudicator, and the sources do not provide that granular detail [3] [2].
6. What the sources do not say — limits of current reporting
The available sources do not provide the asylum file, the precise legal basis for approval, whether USCIS asylum officers or another adjudicator acted, nor do they name a specific official who approved the application (available sources do not mention the individual adjudicator or the detailed record of the asylum decision) [2] [3]. They also do not provide the underlying evidence presented by the applicant in the claim, nor the content of vetting records cited in some summaries (not found in current reporting).
7. Bottom line for readers seeking clarity
On timing and attribution, the reporting is clear: multiple outlets say Lakanwal applied in late 2024 and was approved in April 2025 while the Trump administration was in office [1] [3] [2]. On procedural responsibility, the reporting only attributes the action to “immigration authorities” or the administration and stops short of naming the adjudicator or providing the asylum case file; those operational details are not provided in the current coverage [4] [2]. If you need definitive identification of the official who signed the asylum grant or the adjudicative record, current sources do not supply that and further reporting or official records requests would be needed (available sources do not mention a named decision‑maker).