President Donald Trump has turned a criminal case into a deportation case, suggesting he might deport the wife and five children of the man accused of shooting two National Guard members in Washington, D.C..
On Thursday, Nov. 27, Trump was asked whether he planned to remove the family of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the 29 year old Afghan national charged in the attack. Lakanwal had been living in Washington state with his wife and kids before, according to prosecutors, driving across the country and opening fire in the capital.
“Well, we’re looking at that right now. We’re looking at the whole situation with family,” Trump said. “It’s a tragic situation.”
It was the kind of thing Trump often says when he wants to keep his options open, but his hardline anti-immigration stance is a cause for concern. Deporting relatives who are not accused of a crime touches on a line the U.S. government has historically avoided. Civil liberties groups and immigration attorneys argue that punishing a spouse or children for the alleged actions of one person isn’t just extreme, it runs headfirst into basic principles of fairness.
Still, inside Trump’s orbit, the idea fits neatly with years of rhetoric lumping entire families into suspicion when one member is accused of wrongdoing. For supporters who see immigration policy through a national security lens, the notion of investigating or removing relatives is not an outlier, it is part of a pattern.
Investigators are still working to establish a motive behind the attack. Following Trump’s presser, Jeanine Pirro said it was far too early to identify a motive but stated that Lakanwal drove from Washington state to D.C. and carried out the shooting using a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver.
Pirro emphasized that investigators are still filling in the gaps, and there is no hint so far that Lakanwal’s wife or children had anything to do with the attack. But Trump’s remark has nonetheless thrust them into the center of a political storm they didn’t choose.
Details about their immigration status haven’t been made public but since the suspect was granted asylum, the same can be assumed for his wife and five children.
Interesting details emerging about the suspected DC shooter Rahmanullah Lakanwal – including ties to CIA and Afghan special forces. Reporting by colleagues @HafizMaroof1 @SayedANizami pic.twitter.com/PFeiXzvcTb
— Josh Cheetham (@joshcheetham) November 27, 2025
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the suspect was “one of the many unvetted, mass paroled into the United States under Operation Allies Welcome on September 8, 2021, under the Biden Administration.” However, his asylum status was granted under Trump.
For the two National Guard members recovering from their injuries, the focus remains on their health and the criminal proceedings still ahead. For Lakanwal’s family, who have not been charged with anything, their lives in the United States now seem to hinge not on evidence but on a single sentence from the president.
Whether the suggestion becomes action is anyone’s guess. But Trump’s words signal where he wants the public conversation to drift, away from individual culpability and toward whether being related to an accused shooter is enough to threaten your place in the country.
