Anti-Immigration Hawks Exploit Shooting to Target LGBTQ+ Asylum Seekers

By: Paul Goldberg, Senior Editor | JRL CHARTS – LGBT Politics

After a National Guard shooting, conservatives push sweeping immigration crackdowns that threaten to strip queer asylum seekers of safety and refuge.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — (December 6, 2025) — In the aftermath of a Washington National Guard shooting allegedly carried out by an Afghan man granted asylum, right-wing anti-immigration and anti-LGBTQ hardliners are using the tragedy to demand sweeping restrictions on legal immigration and asylum — a move that human rights and LGBTQ+ advocates warn could put some of the most vulnerable people in mortal danger.

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Members of Congress and administration officials are calling for: comprehensive re-vetting of migrants; new mandatory in-person interviews; deportation of millions of people admitted under previous administrations; and broader travel bans targeting “non-Western” countries.

Although these proposals are presented under the guise of national-security concerns, their impact will be devastating — especially for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers. LGBTQ individuals fleeing persecution abroad already face extraordinary legal and practical hurdles in U.S. asylum cases: courts and immigration officials often fail to recognize their claims, require unrealistic “proof” of identity, or subject them to detention — where many report abuse, neglect, and even sexual violence.

Advocates note that when asylum protections are narrowed — or applications denied wholesale for entire nationalities — queer refugees are at greater risk of being returned to countries where they face death, torture, or indefinite imprisonment simply for who they are.

These efforts amount to more than a crackdown: they represent a systemic attempt to shut down asylum access for people already marginalized because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. In effect, it’s a push to effectively “cancel” the right to asylum for LGBTQ+ migrants — putting countless lives on the line.

If implemented, these policies will not just deny refuge — they will abandon people who fled discrimination and violence abroad precisely because they are queer.

JRL CHARTS stands firmly against any agenda that weaponizes a tragedy to erode asylum protections, especially for LGBTQ+ individuals seeking shelter and safety.

We at JRL CHARTS will continue to spotlight — and fight — any policy or voice that seeks to deny queer asylum seekers the refuge and protection they desperately need.

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