Local Afghans fear deportation, retaliation after Trump directives

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Afghans in central Virginia are fearing retaliation after the suspect charged in the shooting of two National Guardsmen was revealed to be an Afghan national.

The Afghan Association of Central Virginia (AACVA) is condemning the deadly attack, allegedly carried out by 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who came to the U.S. under a program for Afghans that worked with U.S. forces in Afghanistan. But the AACVA and local lawmakers said their community is being unfairly punished for sharing a nationality with the attacker.

AACVA founder, Sultana Salam, and her daughter, Farah Hottle, said Afghan refugees in their community are now at risk after President Donald Trump ordered a reinvestigation of all Afghans who came to the country under the Biden administration.

"They're really scared," Hottle said. "They're worried that everything that they've tried to build here in the U.S., rebuilding and creating a new life for themselves and their family, is about to be just taken away."

MORE: Trump pushes for more restrictions on Afghan refugees. Experts say many are already in place

The Trump administration also said it's halting all asylum decisions and pausing the issuance of visas for people traveling on Afghan passports.

Hottle said they're already seeing the effects of these decisions.

"We've already heard of instances... where cases or interviews for naturalization or for green card applications have been canceled already," Hottle said. "Families are going to remain separated. Relatives that have been in limbo up until now in Kabul or in Afghanistan, waiting to come and rejoin their spouses, their children, their parents, are going to be in limbo as they have been."

About 76,000 Afghans came as refugees after the U.S. withdrawal from the country in 2021. Many worked with the U.S. government as interpreters and translators.

Salam said refugees in their community fear being deported back to Afghanistan, where they could face retaliation from the Taliban.

"They could be imprisoned, tortured, killed," Salam said. "Young girls wouldn't be allowed to attend school anymore."

Senator Tim Kaine shared the following statement with 8News in response to the Trump administration's recent immigration directives:

“It’s unfair to punish people who had nothing to do with this week’s horrific attack, including America’s Afghan allies—who fought alongside U.S. forces at enormous personal risk—and green card applicants from nearly two dozen other countries. The reality is that the shooter was vetted thoroughly, including by the Trump Administration, and that an issue central to this situation is that it is way too easy for individuals to access firearms in this country.”

8News reached out to Gov. Glenn Youngkin and several other state Republicans, and is waiting for a response.