Category: Dramas

The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian migrants living in the United States.

The agency posted a federal register notice stating that the 353,000 Haitian migrants who currently hold TPS will see their status expire in February. TPS protects eligible migrants from deportation and lets them work legally in the United States while conditions in their home country remain unsafe.

“After consulting with interagency partners, Secretary [Kristi] Noem concluded that Haiti no longer meets the statutory requirements for TPS,” DHS said in a news release. “This decision was based on a review conducted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, input from relevant U.S. government agencies, and an analysis indicating that allowing Haitian nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is inconsistent with U.S. national interests.”

DHS told Haitian migrants under TPS to prepare to depart if they have no other lawful basis for remaining in the United States.

FEDS UNSEAL CHARGES AGAINST ‘BARBECUE,’ HAITIAN GANG LEADER WITH $5M BOUNTY ON HIS HEAD

The agency advised them to use the U.S. Customs and Border Protection CBP Home mobile application to report their departure from the United States.

“This secure and convenient self-deportation process includes a complimentary plane ticket, a $1,000 exit bonus, and potential future opportunities for legal immigration to the United States,” DHS said.

Haiti was first granted TPS in 2010 after an earthquake and has been repeatedly extended or redesignated by successive administrations.

VIOLENT CRIMINAL GANGS HAVE ‘NEAR-TOTAL CONTROL’ OF WORLD NATION’S CAPITAL, UN SAYS

Former President Joe Biden’s administration extended TPS for Haitians in 2024, citing “simultaneous economic, security, political, and health crises” in the country fueled by gangs and a lack of a functioning government. That extension lasts through Feb. 3, 2026.

Haiti has been in turmoil for years, with natural disasters and political violence rocking the Caribbean nation.

Governance effectively collapsed in 2021 with the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, leaving power vacuums. Kidnappings, gang rule and a lack of law enforcement have surged.

The number of people displaced by violence and instability in Haiti has reached an unprecedented level, with more than 1.4 million people forced from their homes this year, according to the International Organization for Migration.

UNICEF, according to the DHS notice, estimated in October that more than 6 million people — over half the population, including 3.3 million children — need humanitarian assistance.

Some Haitians have attempted to flee to the U.S. despite the Trump administration’s hardline approach to immigration. For instance, in February, the Coast Guard intercepted 132 Haitians on a boat south of the Florida Keys. The Coast Guard boarded the 30-foot vessel and processed the migrants before they were repatriated to Haiti, officials said.

Fox News’ Adam Sabes and Reuters contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump pardoned two turkeys Tuesday — Gobble and Waddle — as part of an annual tradition that has occurred at the White House for more than 35 years. 

The Thanksgiving Turkey Pardoning is a ceremony originating from the National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation that started dating back to the 1940s, when the National Turkey Federation would present the president with a live turkey for Thanksgiving. 

President John F. Kennedy is often credited with pardoning the first turkey in 1963, when he said that he would “let this one grow.” Although Kennedy didn’t use the word “pardon,” the L.A. Times reported on the matter with the headline, “Turkey gets presidential pardon,” according to an NBC News archive. 

President Ronald Reagan also made a joke about pardoning that year’s turkey, Charlie, in response to a question from a reporter, according to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum.

TRUMP JOKES THAT BIDEN TURKEY PARDON IN 2024 ‘INVALID’ DUE TO AUTOPEN 

“If they’d given me a different answer on Charlie and his future, I would have pardoned him,” Reagan said in 1987. 

However, the tradition was codified during George H.W. Bush’s administration as an annual tradition, according to the White House Historical Association. Bush used the word pardon, and the tradition continued each year afterward. 

“But let me assure you, and this fine tom turkey, that he will not end up on anyone’s dinner table, not this guy — he’s presented a presidential pardon as of right now — and allow him to live out his days on a children’s farm not far from here,” Bush said in 1989. 

Gobble and Waddle clocked in at 50 pounds and 52 pounds each, and traveled from North Carolina to the Washington’s Willard InterContinental Hotel for the annual tradition. Following the pardoning, they will head to North Carolina State University’s Prestage Department of Poultry Science.

During the ceremony in the Rose Garden, Trump also took aim at former President Joe Biden, and said that Biden used the autopen to pardon the 2024 turkeys, and as a result those pardons were “totally invalid.” 

As a result, Trump quipped that he had pardoned those turkeys too, and said that he “saved them in the nick of time.”

EXCLUSIVE: The Afghan national accused of shooting two National Guard members blocks from the White House worked with various United States government entities, including the CIA, as a member of a partner force in Afghanistan, Fox News Digital has learned.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, entered the United States on the heels of the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 under the Biden administration. Lakanwal arrived in the U.S. a month later under “Operation Allies Welcome.”

TWO NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS SHOT NEAR WHITE HOUSE, AFGHAN NATIONAL SUSPECT IN CUSTODY: ‘ACT OF EVIL’

Intelligence sources told Fox News Digital that Lakanwal had a prior relationship with various entities in the U.S. government, including the CIA, due to his work as a member of a partner force in Kandahar.

“In the wake of the disastrous Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. government, including CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox News Digital.

“The individual—and so many others—should have never been allowed to come here,” Ratcliffe continued. “Our citizens and service members deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from the Biden administration’s catastrophic failures.” 

Ratcliffe added: “God bless our brave troops.”

Fox News Digital has learned that the FBI is taking the lead on the investigation.

2 NATIONAL GUARDSMEN CRITICALLY WOUNDED IN ‘TARGETED SHOOTING’ BLOCKS FROM WHITE HOUSE

Multiple high level intelligence sources told Fox News Digital that the shooting is being investigated as a possible act of international terrorism.

FBI officials confirmed the two West Virginia National Guardsmen remain in critical condition.

In an online address to the nation late Wednesday, President Donald Trump called the shooting a “savage attack” and described how one of the Guardsmen “was shot at point-blank range in a monstrous ambush-style attack just steps away from the White House.”

Trump added that the “heinous assault” was an “act of evil and act of hatred and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity.”

“The hearts of all Americans tonight are with those two members of the West Virginia National Guard and their families,” he added. “The love of our entire country is pouring out for them, and we are lifting them up in our prayers as we are filled with anguish and grief for those who were shot, we’re also filled with righteous anger and ferocious resolve. As President of the United States, I am determined to ensure that the animal who perpetrated this atrocity pays the steepest possible price.”

“This is a targeted shooting,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser explained during a news conference Wednesday afternoon following the shooting. “One individual appeared to target these guardsmen. That individual has been taken into custody.”

EXCLUSIVE: The Afghan national accused of shooting two National Guard members blocks from the White House worked with various United States government entities, including the CIA, as a member of a partner force in Afghanistan, Fox News Digital has learned.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, entered the United States on the heels of the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 under the Biden administration. Lakanwal arrived in the U.S. a month later under “Operation Allies Welcome.”

TWO NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS SHOT NEAR WHITE HOUSE, AFGHAN NATIONAL SUSPECT IN CUSTODY: ‘ACT OF EVIL’

Intelligence sources told Fox News Digital that Lakanwal had a prior relationship with various entities in the U.S. government, including the CIA, due to his work as a member of a partner force in Kandahar.

“In the wake of the disastrous Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. government, including CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox News Digital.

“The individual—and so many others—should have never been allowed to come here,” Ratcliffe continued. “Our citizens and service members deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from the Biden administration’s catastrophic failures.” 

Ratcliffe added: “God bless our brave troops.”

Fox News Digital has learned that the FBI is taking the lead on the investigation.

2 NATIONAL GUARDSMEN CRITICALLY WOUNDED IN ‘TARGETED SHOOTING’ BLOCKS FROM WHITE HOUSE

Multiple high level intelligence sources told Fox News Digital that the shooting is being investigated as a possible act of international terrorism.

FBI officials confirmed the two West Virginia National Guardsmen remain in critical condition.

In an online address to the nation late Wednesday, President Donald Trump called the shooting a “savage attack” and described how one of the Guardsmen “was shot at point-blank range in a monstrous ambush-style attack just steps away from the White House.”

Trump added that the “heinous assault” was an “act of evil and act of hatred and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity.”

“The hearts of all Americans tonight are with those two members of the West Virginia National Guard and their families,” he added. “The love of our entire country is pouring out for them, and we are lifting them up in our prayers as we are filled with anguish and grief for those who were shot, we’re also filled with righteous anger and ferocious resolve. As President of the United States, I am determined to ensure that the animal who perpetrated this atrocity pays the steepest possible price.”

“This is a targeted shooting,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser explained during a news conference Wednesday afternoon following the shooting. “One individual appeared to target these guardsmen. That individual has been taken into custody.”

EXCLUSIVE: The Afghan national accused of shooting two National Guard members blocks from the White House worked with various United States government entities, including the CIA, as a member of a partner force in Afghanistan, Fox News Digital has learned.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, entered the United States on the heels of the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 under the Biden administration. Lakanwal arrived in the U.S. a month later under “Operation Allies Welcome.”

TWO NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS SHOT NEAR WHITE HOUSE, AFGHAN NATIONAL SUSPECT IN CUSTODY: ‘ACT OF EVIL’

Intelligence sources told Fox News Digital that Lakanwal had a prior relationship with various entities in the U.S. government, including the CIA, due to his work as a member of a partner force in Kandahar.

“In the wake of the disastrous Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. government, including CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox News Digital.

“The individual—and so many others—should have never been allowed to come here,” Ratcliffe continued. “Our citizens and service members deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from the Biden administration’s catastrophic failures.” 

Ratcliffe added: “God bless our brave troops.”

Fox News Digital has learned that the FBI is taking the lead on the investigation.

2 NATIONAL GUARDSMEN CRITICALLY WOUNDED IN ‘TARGETED SHOOTING’ BLOCKS FROM WHITE HOUSE

Multiple high level intelligence sources told Fox News Digital that the shooting is being investigated as a possible act of international terrorism.

FBI officials confirmed the two West Virginia National Guardsmen remain in critical condition.

In an online address to the nation late Wednesday, President Donald Trump called the shooting a “savage attack” and described how one of the Guardsmen “was shot at point-blank range in a monstrous ambush-style attack just steps away from the White House.”

Trump added that the “heinous assault” was an “act of evil and act of hatred and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity.”

“The hearts of all Americans tonight are with those two members of the West Virginia National Guard and their families,” he added. “The love of our entire country is pouring out for them, and we are lifting them up in our prayers as we are filled with anguish and grief for those who were shot, we’re also filled with righteous anger and ferocious resolve. As President of the United States, I am determined to ensure that the animal who perpetrated this atrocity pays the steepest possible price.”

“This is a targeted shooting,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser explained during a news conference Wednesday afternoon following the shooting. “One individual appeared to target these guardsmen. That individual has been taken into custody.”

EXCLUSIVE: The Afghan national accused of shooting two National Guard members blocks from the White House worked with various United States government entities, including the CIA, as a member of a partner force in Afghanistan, Fox News Digital has learned.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, entered the United States on the heels of the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 under the Biden administration. Lakanwal arrived in the U.S. a month later under “Operation Allies Welcome.”

TWO NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS SHOT NEAR WHITE HOUSE, AFGHAN NATIONAL SUSPECT IN CUSTODY: ‘ACT OF EVIL’

Intelligence sources told Fox News Digital that Lakanwal had a prior relationship with various entities in the U.S. government, including the CIA, due to his work as a member of a partner force in Kandahar.

“In the wake of the disastrous Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. government, including CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox News Digital.

“The individual—and so many others—should have never been allowed to come here,” Ratcliffe continued. “Our citizens and service members deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from the Biden administration’s catastrophic failures.” 

Ratcliffe added: “God bless our brave troops.”

Fox News Digital has learned that the FBI is taking the lead on the investigation.

2 NATIONAL GUARDSMEN CRITICALLY WOUNDED IN ‘TARGETED SHOOTING’ BLOCKS FROM WHITE HOUSE

Multiple high level intelligence sources told Fox News Digital that the shooting is being investigated as a possible act of international terrorism.

FBI officials confirmed the two West Virginia National Guardsmen remain in critical condition.

In an online address to the nation late Wednesday, President Donald Trump called the shooting a “savage attack” and described how one of the Guardsmen “was shot at point-blank range in a monstrous ambush-style attack just steps away from the White House.”

Trump added that the “heinous assault” was an “act of evil and act of hatred and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity.”

“The hearts of all Americans tonight are with those two members of the West Virginia National Guard and their families,” he added. “The love of our entire country is pouring out for them, and we are lifting them up in our prayers as we are filled with anguish and grief for those who were shot, we’re also filled with righteous anger and ferocious resolve. As President of the United States, I am determined to ensure that the animal who perpetrated this atrocity pays the steepest possible price.”

“This is a targeted shooting,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser explained during a news conference Wednesday afternoon following the shooting. “One individual appeared to target these guardsmen. That individual has been taken into custody.”

EXCLUSIVE: The Afghan national accused of shooting two National Guard members blocks from the White House worked with various United States government entities, including the CIA, as a member of a partner force in Afghanistan, Fox News Digital has learned.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, entered the United States on the heels of the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 under the Biden administration. Lakanwal arrived in the U.S. a month later under “Operation Allies Welcome.”

TWO NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS SHOT NEAR WHITE HOUSE, AFGHAN NATIONAL SUSPECT IN CUSTODY: ‘ACT OF EVIL’

Intelligence sources told Fox News Digital that Lakanwal had a prior relationship with various entities in the U.S. government, including the CIA, due to his work as a member of a partner force in Kandahar.

“In the wake of the disastrous Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. government, including CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox News Digital.

“The individual—and so many others—should have never been allowed to come here,” Ratcliffe continued. “Our citizens and service members deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from the Biden administration’s catastrophic failures.” 

Ratcliffe added: “God bless our brave troops.”

Fox News Digital has learned that the FBI is taking the lead on the investigation.

2 NATIONAL GUARDSMEN CRITICALLY WOUNDED IN ‘TARGETED SHOOTING’ BLOCKS FROM WHITE HOUSE

Multiple high level intelligence sources told Fox News Digital that the shooting is being investigated as a possible act of international terrorism.

FBI officials confirmed the two West Virginia National Guardsmen remain in critical condition.

In an online address to the nation late Wednesday, President Donald Trump called the shooting a “savage attack” and described how one of the Guardsmen “was shot at point-blank range in a monstrous ambush-style attack just steps away from the White House.”

Trump added that the “heinous assault” was an “act of evil and act of hatred and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity.”

“The hearts of all Americans tonight are with those two members of the West Virginia National Guard and their families,” he added. “The love of our entire country is pouring out for them, and we are lifting them up in our prayers as we are filled with anguish and grief for those who were shot, we’re also filled with righteous anger and ferocious resolve. As President of the United States, I am determined to ensure that the animal who perpetrated this atrocity pays the steepest possible price.”

“This is a targeted shooting,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser explained during a news conference Wednesday afternoon following the shooting. “One individual appeared to target these guardsmen. That individual has been taken into custody.”

EXCLUSIVE: The Afghan national accused of shooting two National Guard members blocks from the White House worked with various United States government entities, including the CIA, as a member of a partner force in Afghanistan, Fox News Digital has learned.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, entered the United States on the heels of the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 under the Biden administration. Lakanwal arrived in the U.S. a month later under “Operation Allies Welcome.”

TWO NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS SHOT NEAR WHITE HOUSE, AFGHAN NATIONAL SUSPECT IN CUSTODY: ‘ACT OF EVIL’

Intelligence sources told Fox News Digital that Lakanwal had a prior relationship with various entities in the U.S. government, including the CIA, due to his work as a member of a partner force in Kandahar.

“In the wake of the disastrous Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. government, including CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox News Digital.

“The individual—and so many others—should have never been allowed to come here,” Ratcliffe continued. “Our citizens and service members deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from the Biden administration’s catastrophic failures.” 

Ratcliffe added: “God bless our brave troops.”

Fox News Digital has learned that the FBI is taking the lead on the investigation.

2 NATIONAL GUARDSMEN CRITICALLY WOUNDED IN ‘TARGETED SHOOTING’ BLOCKS FROM WHITE HOUSE

Multiple high level intelligence sources told Fox News Digital that the shooting is being investigated as a possible act of international terrorism.

FBI officials confirmed the two West Virginia National Guardsmen remain in critical condition.

In an online address to the nation late Wednesday, President Donald Trump called the shooting a “savage attack” and described how one of the Guardsmen “was shot at point-blank range in a monstrous ambush-style attack just steps away from the White House.”

Trump added that the “heinous assault” was an “act of evil and act of hatred and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity.”

“The hearts of all Americans tonight are with those two members of the West Virginia National Guard and their families,” he added. “The love of our entire country is pouring out for them, and we are lifting them up in our prayers as we are filled with anguish and grief for those who were shot, we’re also filled with righteous anger and ferocious resolve. As President of the United States, I am determined to ensure that the animal who perpetrated this atrocity pays the steepest possible price.”

“This is a targeted shooting,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser explained during a news conference Wednesday afternoon following the shooting. “One individual appeared to target these guardsmen. That individual has been taken into custody.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under former-President Joe Biden promised to “swiftly and safely” resettle Afghan allies into the United States, but multiple sources have confirmed the D.C. National Guard shooter came in under that same Biden-era program in 2021.

Biden responded to the “targeted” attack in D.C. just before news broke of how the alleged shooter, 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the United States under humanitarian parole via Operation Allies Welcome, per DHS and FBI sources, giving him permission to be in country legally. 

In 2021, amid the Afghan withdrawal debacle, Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas promised to “swiftly and safely” resettle thousands of Afghan allies into the United States and confirmed that DHS had denied evacuees from entering the U.S. due to “derogatory” information obtained during the vetting process.

After the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan that was followed by a Taliban takeover of the country, the Biden administration launched a large operation to support and resettle vulnerable Afghans, including those that had helped U.S. troops in the past. 

TWO NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS SHOT NEAR WHITE HOUSE, AFGHAN NATIONAL SUSPECT IN CUSTODY: ‘TARGETED’

Due to the rushed nature of the evacuation, plus broader concerns over immigration and parole-release policies, fears arose over whom the country may have been letting in. 

Mayorkas said during a September 2021 press conference that 120,000 people had been evacuated from Afghanistan since the beginning of the U.S. withdrawal, just months earlier. The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center found that nearly 800 aircraft evacuated thousands of people over just a 17-day period in August 2021.

At the time, Mayorkas touted the robust biometric screening and vetting process in place — in both the U.S. and transit countries — in order to make sure every individual entering the country was properly screened. 

In response to a question at the time from Fox News’ Jake Gibson, Mayorkas confirmed that there already had been individuals flagged with “derogatory information” during the vetting process, but did not specify the number of people flagged.

Mayorkas assured that 400 U.S. Customs and Border Patrol employees and the Transportation Security Administration would be brought up to assist. Part of the effort included moving refugees from military bases designated by the Pentagon to house and vet refugees before they enter the United States.

Lakanwal, who entered the U.S. in September 2021 after America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, had his permission to stay in the U.S. granted under Operation Allies Welcome, sources said. Authorities are investigating the shooting as a possible act of international terrorism. 

FBI officials confirmed two West Virginia National Guardsmen remain in critical condition after being shot in the head during an apparent targeted attack just a few blocks from the White House.

During comments Wednesday night, President Donald Trump called Biden “a disastrous president” and “the worst in the history of our country.”

WHITE HOUSE BLASTS MS NOW CORRESPONDENT’S ‘BEYOND SICK’ REACTION TO DC SHOOTING OF NATIONAL GUARDSMEN

He also ridiculed the former president for flying Lakanwal “on those infamous flights that everybody was talking about.”

“Nobody knew who was coming in, nobody knew anything about it,” Trump pointed out about the Afghan evacuation process under Biden. 

He also slammed broader parole and immigration policies under Biden, claiming Lakanwal’s “status was extended under legislation signed under President Biden. “

“This attack underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation,” Trump added, announcing that the government “must now reexamine every single alien who has entered our country under Biden.”

Trump also appeared to suggest the death penalty for Lakanwal, stating toward the end of his address that “we will bring the perpetrator of this barbaric attack to swift and certain justice – if the bullet’s going in the opposite direction – (unintelligible).”

Meanwhile, former President Biden did respond to the tragic D.C. attack, but his comments came before news of how the shooter entered the United States.

“Jill and I are heartbroken that two members of the National Guard were shot outside the White House,” Biden posted on X, just before news broke that the shooter entered the country under his administration’s rapid resettlement program. 

“Violence of any kind is unacceptable, and we must all stand united against it. We are praying for the service members and their families.”

Fox News Digital Reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment on the news that Lakanwal came into the United States under the Biden-era program, but did not receive a response. Attempts to reach former DHS Secretary Mayorkas also were unsuccessful in time for publication.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under former-President Joe Biden promised to “swiftly and safely” resettle Afghan allies into the United States, but multiple sources have confirmed the D.C. National Guard shooter came in under that same Biden-era program in 2021.

Biden responded to the “targeted” attack in D.C. just before news broke of how the alleged shooter, 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the United States under humanitarian parole via Operation Allies Welcome, per DHS and FBI sources, giving him permission to be in country legally. 

In 2021, amid the Afghan withdrawal debacle, Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas promised to “swiftly and safely” resettle thousands of Afghan allies into the United States and confirmed that DHS had denied evacuees from entering the U.S. due to “derogatory” information obtained during the vetting process.

After the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan that was followed by a Taliban takeover of the country, the Biden administration launched a large operation to support and resettle vulnerable Afghans, including those that had helped U.S. troops in the past. 

TWO NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS SHOT NEAR WHITE HOUSE, AFGHAN NATIONAL SUSPECT IN CUSTODY: ‘TARGETED’

Due to the rushed nature of the evacuation, plus broader concerns over immigration and parole-release policies, fears arose over whom the country may have been letting in. 

Mayorkas said during a Sept. 2021 press conference that 120,000 people had been evacuated from Afghanistan since the beginning of the U.S. withdrawal, just months earlier. The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center found that nearly 800 aircraft evacuated thousands of people over just a 17-day period in August 2021.

At the time, Mayorkas touted the robust biometric screening and vetting process in place — in both the U.S. and transit countries — in order to make sure every individual entering the country was properly screened. 

In response to a question at the time from Fox News’ Jake Gibson, Mayorkas confirmed that there already had been individuals flagged with “derogatory information” during the vetting process, but did not specify the number of people flagged.

Mayorkas assured that 400 U.S. Customs and Border Patrol employees and the Transportation Security Administration would be brought up to assist. Part of the effort included moving refugees from military bases designated by the Pentagon to house and vet refugees before they enter the United States.

Lakanwal, who entered the U.S. in September 2021 after America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, had his permission to stay in the U.S. granted under Operation Allies Welcome, sources said. Authorities are investigating the shooting as a possible act of international terrorism. FBI officials confirmed two West Virginia National Guardsmen remain in critical condition after being shot in the head during an apparent targeted attack just a few blocks from the White House.

During comments Wednesday night, President Donald Trump called Biden “a disastrous president” and “the worst in the history of our country.”

WHITE HOUSE BLASTS MS NOW CORRESPONDENT’S ‘BEYOND SICK’ REACTION TO DC SHOOTING OF NATIONAL GUARDSMEN

He also ridiculed the former president for flying Lakanwal “on those infamous flights that everybody was talking about.”

“Nobody knew who was coming in, nobody knew anything about it,” Trump pointed out about the Afghan evacuation process under Biden. He also slammed broader parole and immigration policies under Biden, claiming Lakanwal’s “status was extended under legislation signed under President Biden. “

“This attack underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation,” Trump added, announcing that the government “must now reexamine every single alien who has entered our country under Biden.”

Trump also appeared to suggest the death penalty for Lakanwal, stating toward the end of his address that “we will bring the perpetrator of this barbaric attack to swift and certain justice – if the bullet’s going in the opposite direction – (unintelligible).”

Meanwhile, former President Biden did respond to the tragic D.C. attack, but his comments came before news of how the shooter entered the United States.

“Jill and I are heartbroken that two members of the National Guard were shot outside the White House,” Biden posted on X, just before news broke that the shooter entered the country under his administration’s rapid resettlement program. 

“Violence of any kind is unacceptable, and we must all stand united against it. We are praying for the service members and their families.”

Fox News Digital Reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment on the news that Lakanwal came into the United States under the Biden-era program, but did not receive a response. Attempts to reach former DHS Secretary Mayorkas also were unsuccessful in time for publication.