Are there public records or news reports confirming Rahmanullah Lakanwal’s asylum approval and background?
Executive summary
Multiple U.S. news outlets report that Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the Afghan national accused of shooting two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., applied for asylum in December 2024 and was granted asylum on or about April 23, 2025, according to U.S. government files and law enforcement sources [1] [2] [3]. Major outlets — Reuters, CNN, ABC, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, BBC, Forbes and others — cite either a government file or multiple law‑enforcement sources saying his asylum was approved in April 2025; contemporaneous reporting also notes he entered the U.S. in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome [1] [3] [4] [5].
1. What the public record and news reports say about the asylum approval
Multiple news organizations report that Lakanwal applied for asylum in December 2024 and that an asylum decision was approved in April 2025; Reuters says a U.S. government file it saw recorded his approval on April 23, 2025, while other outlets cite law‑enforcement officials who give April 2025 as the month of approval [1] [2] [3]. CNN, ABC, Newsweek and The Daily Beast specifically repeat the April 2025 approval date and note the timeline ties the approval to the early months of the Trump administration [3] [4] [6] [7].
2. Corroboration across outlets — consistency and sourcing
The coverage is consistent that asylum was approved in April 2025 and that this information derives from government files or multiple law‑enforcement sources: Reuters cites a government file [1]; CNN and ABC cite law‑enforcement officials [3] [4]; Reuters and The Guardian reference a U.S. government file seen by reporters [2] [8]. That alignment across independent outlets provides strong journalistic corroboration for the claim that asylum was granted in April 2025 [1] [3] [2].
3. What the reporting says about Lakanwal’s background and vetting
Reporting uniformly states Lakanwal came to the U.S. in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome for Afghans who assisted U.S. forces and that he worked with U.S. government partners in Afghanistan, including units supported by the CIA and other agencies, which led to multiple vetting events, according to officials quoted by Reuters, ABC and the BBC [1] [4] [9]. ABC and the BBC say he was likely vetted multiple times and that some have said reviews “found no systematic vetting failures” in the broader evacuation program [4] [9].
4. Political reaction and selective framing in reporting
The asylum approval quickly became a political flashpoint: the Trump White House and allied officials publicly blamed “Biden‑era” vetting despite reporting that the asylum approval occurred in April 2025 under President Trump [1] [7]. Reuters and The Guardian report the Trump administration announced reviews of asylum cases and some officials framed the shooting as justification to re‑examine previous admissions [1] [8]. Several outlets note the tension between the timeline and political statements criticizing Biden policies [7] [5].
5. What is not (yet) present in public reporting
Available sources do not mention detailed publicly released asylum adjudication paperwork beyond the phrase “a U.S. government file seen by Reuters” and unnamed law‑enforcement sources reporting the April 2025 approval — that is, reporters reference government files and officials but do not publish full adjudication documents or transcripts in the cited stories [1] [2] [3]. Detailed internal vetting records, exact contents of the government file, or a publicly posted asylum‑approval notice have not been produced in the articles provided [1] [2].
6. Competing interpretations and limits of the available evidence
Some reporting emphasizes multiple vettings and ties to U.S. partners in Afghanistan to argue the individual had been screened by U.S. agencies [1] [4] [9]. Other coverage highlights the political utility of the asylum date for critics seeking to blame prior administrations, noting the approval occurred under Trump even as politicians called out “Biden‑era” policies [7] [8]. The publicly available news reporting provides consistent dates and sourcing but does not disclose full primary asylum documents, so conclusions about the thoroughness of vetting rely on government summaries and official statements rather than released adjudication files [1] [2].
Bottom line: multiple reputable outlets report that Lakanwal applied in December 2024 and was granted asylum in April 2025, citing a government file and law‑enforcement sources [1] [2] [3]. Reporting also documents his 2021 arrival under Operation Allies Welcome and prior work with U.S. partners, but the underlying asylum adjudication documents themselves have not been published in the cited coverage [5] [4] [1].