The Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday that ICE Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested Jaan Shah Safi, an Afghan national, in Waynesboro, Virginia, alleging that he provided support to ISIS-K and supplied weapons to his father, whom DHS described as a militia commander in Afghanistan.
"Today, our heroic ICE officers arrested Jaan Shah Safi, a terrorist who provided material support to ISIS-K. The Biden administration brought this terrorist into the U.S. under the disastrous Operation Allies Welcome program," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said.
"This terrorist was arrested miles from our nation's capital where our brave National Guard heroes, Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe, were shot just days ago by another unvetted Afghan terrorist brought into our country," she added.
According to DHS, Safi entered the United States on Sept. 8, 2021, through Operation Allies Welcome, the federal effort launched in 2021 to support the resettlement of vulnerable Afghans after the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
"The Biden administration created one of the worst national security crises in American history. Biden let into our country nearly 190,000 unvetted Afghan aliens, only determining who they were and their intentions when they were already on American soil," Noem continued.
"President Trump has been working every day since January 20 to clean up this unmitigated national security crisis," she added.
DHS said that Safi later sought temporary protected status but that his status became an enforcement priority after the department terminated TPS for Afghanistan in 2025, a move DHS said would take effect in mid-July.
Last week, Wolfe, 24, and Beckstrom, 20, were shot while on duty near the Farragut West Metro station. Beckstrom died of her injuries Friday, while Wolfe remains in critical condition.
Authorities identified the suspect as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who entered the U.S. under the same program as Safi.
A day after the attack, local authorities and the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested Mohammad Dawood Alokozay on suspicion of making bomb threats in Fort Worth, Texas.
DHS said Alokozay was also brought to the U.S. under Operation Allies Welcome.