Refugee advocates are pushing back on the White House’s claims that Afghan nationals enter the United States without vetting, arguing that the process is already extensive. They say the Trump administration’s sweeping pause on immigration requests and visas is stacking up on top of a system that was already among the most restrictive in the federal government, one they describe as impossible to tighten further. The combined effect, advocates say, is a total shutdown. Rricha Mathur, senior policy director at the International Refugee Assistance Project, called it “a blanket effort to deny immigration benefits,” adding that “decisions are supposed to be made on individual files, not entire nationalities.” “I’m not sure what adding more vetting looks like,” Mathur said. “They’re already run through major intelligence and defense databases that are already quite robust.” The concern from advocates has intensified in the wake of the shooting of two National Guard soldiers last month, just blocks from the White House. The suspect, 29-year-old Afghan refugee Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting of two West Virginia National Guard troops on patrol, killing Spec. Sarah Beckstrom and critically injuring Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe. Investigators have not released information regarding Lakanwal’s motive, though DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has claimed without evidence that he was “radicalized.” The incident prompted immediate action from the Trump administration, which announced a sweeping pause in processing all immigration requests and visas for Afghan nationals. That freeze effectively blocked entry to the U.S., even for those who already cleared years of background checks and security screenings. “This animal would’ve never been here if not for Joe Biden’s dangerous policies which allowed countless unvetted criminals to invade our country and harm the American people,” said Abigail Jackson, deputy press secretary for the White House. “The Trump Administration has been taking every measure possible – in the face of unrelenting Democrat opposition – to get these monsters out of our country and clean up the mess made by the Biden Administration. Instead of defending terrorists, the Democrats should join us in protecting the American people.” Afghan nationals applying through the Special Immigrant Visa program — which Lakanwal, the alleged National Guard shooter, reportedly used— undergo multiple layers of scrutiny long before entering the U.S. Their applications are reviewed by the State Department’s Afghan SIV unit and the National Visa Center, which work with Diplomatic Security to flag questionable documents or inconsistent information. Applicants sit for in-person consular interviews, where officers verify documents, confirm employment histories and assess credibility. Fingerprints, photographs and biographical data are checked against DHS, DOD, FBI and the National Counterterrorism Center. Checks are repeated multiple times, including a final biometric review within 24 hours of departure. Once in the U.S., USCIS and Customs and Border Protection conduct another round of biographic and biometric checks at ports of entry. “The claim Afghan asylum seekers are not vetted before they’re granted relief in the United States is not true,” said Elora Mukherjee, an immigration lawyer and director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School. “The Trump administration is exploiting the tragic shootings of the National Guard further to decimate the asylum system and immigration law and policy.” But the administration has held firm that further measures are necessary to tighten the system, arguing that any action Trump is taking is in response to Biden administration policies. “The entire world was a witness to the disastrous and deadly Afghanistan withdrawal led by the previous administration,” said Tommy Pigott, principal deputy spokesperson for the State Department. “Biden’s reckless ineptitude led to the tragic death of 13 of our brave service members, and the results of his incompetence continue to plague the region.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in the days following the shooting when the administration announced the pause on visas that the U.S. “has no higher priority than protecting our nation and our people.” Mukherjee, who has worked with dozens of Afghan nationals who fled to the U.S. in 2021, said each “has made enormous sacrifices and risked their lives to try to promote values that the United States supported in Afghanistan.” One of her clients described Trump’s visa halt as “a punch in the gut.” Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at rumansky-castro@politico.com.
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4. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Midterm lookahead: Dueling party strategists — Marc Short, who previously served as a top aide for former VP Mike Pence, and Adrienne Elrod, a longtime Democratic hand — are featured on tonight’s episode of C-SPAN’s “Ceasefire” with Playbook’s own Dasha Burns, where they discuss the midterm map facing each party. “I think it’s going to be a really steep climb,” Short said of Republicans' prospects in 2026. “The reality is that Americans like divided government, they don’t want one party in control. … I think you’re going to see, likely, a Democrat year in the midterms.” Elrod, meanwhile, said Democrats have to stay on message to secure victories next year. “One of the challenges Democrats have right now, and this is for the first time in a long time, is there’s not an heir apparent who’s going to be the Democratic nominee in 2028. Who is the messenger? We have a lot of messengers, but we don’t have that one person who everyone is looking to.” Watch the full clip The economy, stupid: Democrats are leaning into affordability as their 2026 message, and Miami just enforced it. Eileen Higgins credited her mayoral win to a focus on the cost of living — a victory that follows others in New York, New Jersey and Virginia, showing pocketbook issues are central to campaign messaging, POLITICO’s Kimberly Leonard and colleagues report. “But the theme is also papering over deep divisions inside the party. Democrats may be winning on ‘affordability,’ yet they have very different ideas about how to make life cheaper.” In the Lone Star State: Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) holds an 8-point lead over state Rep. James Talarico in the Texas Democratic Senate primary in a Texas Southern University poll, the first polling done since Crockett entered the race, The Texas Tribune’s Kayla Guo reports. Crockett’s lead is fueled by overwhelming support from Black voters and she holds high name recognition numbers, while Talarico keeps it close among white and Latino voters. In the Badger State: Two Wisconsin redistricting cases are now speeding along on competing timelines, with one case unlikely to finish before the 2026 midterms while Democrats push the other to land a ruling before November, AP’s Scott Bauer reports. 5. INFLATION NATION: Fed officials today underlined why the central bank’s 9-3 vote on cutting interest rates was so contentious, with regional presidents showcasing division over the decision, WSJ’s Nick Timiraos and Matt Grossman reports. “In public comments, one argued that the central bank had room to keep cutting if the labor market softens, and others warned that rate cuts could threaten the Fed’s hard-won work on inflation.” Ahead of the Fed’s next meeting set for Jan. 27-28, a backlog of shutdown-delayed data is expected to come in. “Investors currently see less than a 25% chance of another cut, according to CME Group.” 6. THE BRAVE NEW WORLD: “Arizona city rejects data center after AI lobbying push,” by POLITICO’s Jason Plautz in Chandler: “This Arizona suburb sent a searing warning message to Big Tech companies after city officials on Thursday night unanimously rejected a proposed artificial intelligence data center — capping a fight that attracted powerful interests from Silicon Valley and Washington. A lobbying push that included Microsoft and Meta and outside political pressure to approve the project, perhaps most significantly from former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, shined a spotlight on AI industry efforts to influence local decisions around development.” 7. SKY’S THE LIMIT: “Trump administration launches bold air-taxi push,” by WaPo’s Lori Aratani: “The Trump administration is seeking to boost U.S. companies as they compete for dominance in the burgeoning air-taxi sector — with an eye toward showcasing the technology at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. … The data collected from the program will offer participants an early look at how these aircraft operate in real-world conditions, and what changes will be needed to incorporate them into existing transportation systems.”
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OUT AND ABOUT — Courier Newsroom brought together political strategists, organizers and content creators for a “Courage > Cowardice” event yesterday evening in D.C., where panel discussions examined resistance and opposition in American democratic history and how those lessons can apply to today. SPOTTED: Rashad Robinson, Nourbese Flint, Melissa Morales, Yasmin Radjy, Brian Beutler, Meredith Lynch, Andrea Chalupa, Jack Cocchiarella, Alex Cascio and Annie Wu. — Jenner & Block and the Project on Government Oversight last night celebrated the release of their updated edition of “When Congress Comes Calling,” a handbook for the congressional oversight community. SPOTTED: Speaker Mike Johnson, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), Steve Castor, Ashley Callen, Emily Loeb, Matthew Klapper, Jon Skladany, Sam Ungar, Mark Marin, Rachel Kaldahl, Marcus Childress, David Brewer, Cassie Fields, Diana Rudd, Andy Wright, Rachel Cotton, Kim Hamm, Molly Fromm, Mark Epley, Fritz Vaughan, Sean Clerget, Neil Eggleston, Dave Rapallo, Louisa Terrell, Laurie Rubiner, Sarah Feldman, Laura Carey, Arthur Ewenczyk, Veronica Duron, Kyle Smithwick, Greta Gao, Brittany Havens, Mindy Myers, Clarine Nardi Riddle and Sara Garland. — SPOTTED at the first Tri-Caucus Christmas party with the GOP Latinos Staff Association, the Republican Asian American Staff Association and the Black Republican Congressional Staff Association: Patrick Herrera, Jinwook Hwang, Ty Mills, Gianmarco Herrera, Haley Tran, Semaj Martin-Redd, Zachary Suero, Caleb Parada, Jeyben Castro, Kelvin Giang, Christopher Ferrari, Justin Yamamura, Ignacio Olmos, Eric Mendoza, Sebastian Lopez, Kevin Orellana, Shine Lee, Hannah So, Demetricus Lion, Juan Miranda, Matthew Pineda, Kellie Chong, Enrique Carrasco, Nika Gogishvili-Matthews, Christopher Kim, Jenny Galindo, Christopher Zhen, Natalia Miguel, David Oliva, Elliott Shin, Alex Moree, Joe Rosenwinkel, Rune Moore, Eduardo Rivas, Jayden Masson and Alyssa Ali. — The U.S. Council for International Business hosted its 80th-anniversary gala at The Plaza in NYC yesterday evening. SPOTTED: Dan Negrea, Keith Sonderling, Whitney Baird, Eric Loeb, Dorothy Attwood, Gerald “Chip” Kunde, Heather Kulp, Melike Yetken Krilla, Hanni Rosenbaum and Shea Gopaul. — SPOTTED at Echo Canyon Consulting’s annual holiday reception at the Landini Brothers restaurant in Old Town Alexandria last night: Jon Seaton, Ryan Price, Matt Kenney, Rick Davis, Wells Griffith, Ned Ryun, Matt Salmon, Mike McSherry, Howard Opinsky, Ed Matricardi and Chris Leavitt. — The Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy PAC celebrated its 10th anniversary with a party at the Eaton Hotel last night. SPOTTED: Sondra Goldschein, Liz Kazal, Phoebe Kilgour, Reps. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) and Nikema Williams (D-Ga.), Daria Dawson, Greg Speed, Anthony Fragale, Andy Reynolds, Matt Canter, Rosa Mendoza, Jesse Ferguson, Jess Floyd, Allyson Marcus, Rachele Fortier, Amy Kennedy, Lisa Guide, Javier Gamboa, Sara Schreiber and JB Poersch. — SoundExchange hosted its holiday party at The Schuyler last night, featuring a performance by DJ Jazzy Jeff, days after President and CEO Michael Huppe testified in the Senate on the American Music Fairness Act. SPOTTED: Nikole Killion, Francesca Chambers and Michael Moroney, Josh Dawsey, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Emily Fulp, Peter Karafotas, Doug Cohn, Barry Jeckell, Disha Singh, Michael Carmody, Marla Grossman, Luke Lynch, Julie Philp, Cameron Seward, Shawn Smeallie, Sarah Kohn, Elsa Alvarado, Caleb Jackson, Ella Yates, Tyler Grimm, Christina Rankin, Peter-Anthony Pappas, Dahvi Cohen, Larson Binzer, John Myron and Rich Luchette. TRANSITION — Jeremy Greenberg is now senior adviser at Aspen Digital. He previously spent 23 years at FEMA and is also president of Provincial Strategies. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Emma Rechenberg, co-host of Newsmax’s “National Report,” and Nick Fitzgerald, a VP at BlackRock, welcomed Veronica Sloane Fitzgerald on Monday. Pic … Another pic Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn’t happen without our deputy editor Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
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