Rhamanullah’s asylum in the US was granted in April 2025. The Trump administration did not change who was in charge of USICSuntil July 2025, correct?
Executive summary
Reporting from multiple outlets says Rahmanullah (Rahmanulla/Rahmatullah) Lakanwal was granted asylum in April 2025 after applying in late 2024; Reuters specifies April 23, 2025 [1][2]. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USIC S / USCIS) leadership did change under the Trump administration: Joseph B. Edlow was confirmed as USCIS Director on July 15, 2025 and began service mid‑July, and earlier acting leadership appointments were made in February and January 2025 [3][4][5]. Available sources do not say the Trump administration “did not change who was in charge of USCIS until July 2025”; they show multiple leadership shifts between January and July 2025 [6][4][3].
1. What the asylum reporting actually says — basic timeline
Major U.S. outlets report Lakanwal applied for asylum in 2024 and was approved in April 2025; Reuters quotes a Trump administration official saying the approval came on April 23, 2025 [1]. CNN, ABC and other outlets repeat that the asylum grant occurred in April 2025 [2][7][8]. Multiple summaries and follow‑ups across outlets likewise indicate an April 2025 approval date [9][10].
2. Who ran USCIS around that time — January through July 2025
USCIS leadership did not remain static after Jan. 20, 2025. Ur Jaddou had served as USCIS director until January 2025 [6]. The agency listed an acting director, Jennifer B. Higgins, appointed on Jan. 20, 2025 [5]. The Trump White House appointed Andrew J. Davidson as Deputy Director and Acting Director effective Feb. 9, 2025, according to advocacy reporting [4]. The Senate confirmed Joseph B. Edlow as permanent USCIS Director on July 15, 2025; USCIS published release language marking his start mid‑July [3][11]. These items show multiple leadership changes in the first half of 2025 [6][4][3].
3. Does that contradict the claim that “the Trump administration did not change who was in charge of USCIS until July 2025”?
Available reporting does not support a blanket assertion that USCIS leadership remained unchanged until July 2025. Sources document Ur Jaddou’s tenure ending in January 2025, at least one acting director (Jennifer Higgins) named on Jan. 20, 2025, an acting director/deputy appointment for Andrew Davidson on Feb. 9, 2025, and a Senate‑confirmed director (Joseph Edlow) in mid‑July 2025 [6][5][4][3]. That chronology shows the Trump administration installed or designated new acting leadership before Edlow’s confirmation in July [4][5].
4. How asylum approvals are actually decided — process vs. politics
Asylum adjudications are ordinarily decisions by USCIS asylum officers or immigration judges following law and regulations; an individual asylum grant can be recorded as occurring under a given presidential administration, but that does not by itself mean the president personally approved it (sources reporting the grant describe it as “granted in April 2025” under the Trump administration) [2][7]. Available sources do not detail whether this specific asylum decision was made at a particular management level or subject to review or sign‑off by senior USCIS officials; they simply report the approval month and link it to the administration in office at the time [1][2].
5. Competing framings and political context
News outlets and opinion sites present two competing framings: some headlines emphasize that the suspect’s asylum was granted “under the Trump administration,” implying political responsibility for vetting outcomes [10][12]; other reporting focuses on the procedural timeline — that he entered during Operation Allies Welcome in 2021 and applied later — without suggesting direct presidential involvement [2][8]. Policy reporting also documents aggressive early 2025 changes in immigration posture by the Trump team and by USCIS leadership once confirmed, underscoring that the administration moved quickly to change vetting and program priorities after Jan. 20, 2025 [13][14][3].
6. Limitations and unanswered details
Available sources do not provide the internal adjudicative record showing who signed or reviewed Lakanwal’s asylum file, nor do they show the precise dates and chain of command for every acting official between January and July 2025; they report public leadership appointments and the asylum approval month [1][4][3][5]. If you need confirmation of which specific USCIS official signed that asylum determination, or an internal timeline of case handling, those details are not found in current reporting and would require access to USCIS case records or official statements beyond the cited coverage.
Bottom line: reporting shows Lakanwal’s asylum was granted in April 2025 [1][2], and the Trump administration did install or name new USCIS acting leadership earlier in 2025 before Joseph Edlow’s Senate confirmation in July, so the claim that “the Trump administration did not change who was in charge of USCIS until July 2025” is not supported by the available sources [5][4][3].