DHS: Afghan TikTok user suggested he was building bomb targeting Fort Worth

TARRANT COUNTY, Texas - An Afghan national was arrested after posting a video of himself on TikTok indicating that he was making a bomb with the intention of targeting the Fort Worth area, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

According to an expert who spoke to FOX 4 Saturday, the incident could have much bigger national implications for immigrants.

North Texas Afghan national arrest

The latest:

Mohammad Dawood Alokozay was booked into the Tarrant County Jail Tuesday on charges of making a terroristic threat.

According to DHS, Alokozay came into the United States as part of Operation Allies Welcome under the Biden administration. He was admitted to the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident on Sept. 7, 2022.

Fox News' Brooke Taylor reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a detainer on Alokozay following his arrest.

Possible immigration effects

What they're saying:

Immigration attorney Jaime Barron says this case will affect everyone from refugees to asylum seekers. 

"It's a very difficult situation, because the community at large sees one immigrant acting in a horrible situation like this, and they assume there are many more that are just because they're immigrants, they want to harm the United States. And as we know, the vast majority of people that immigrate to the United States are because of their love for this country. But it affects severely the image of the immigrant coming to the United States," Barron said.

Barron said the Operation Allies program was a necessity at the time. 

"Leaving them behind would have been a death sentence, since they cooperated with the United States," said Barron. "We have to remember that 99% of the Afghani nationals are good people, and that they fought alongside the U.S. to remove the Taliban."

The Trump administration had already halted all asylum decisions and paused issuing visas for people traveling on Afghan passports following a shooting near the White House that left one national guard member dead and another in critical condition.

"I mean, they have vast powers to control the immigration process, and if they believe there's a flawed program, they have the right to detain it and temporarily while they investigate or detail it, but at the same time, stopping all processes might be a little bit extreme, since 99% of the people are really not doing anything bad," said Barron.

The other side:

President Donald Trump blamed Biden-era vetting failures for allowing the White House shooter to "slip through the cracks," even though his asylum claim was approved earlier this year.

Trump fired back at a reporter when asked about that  earlier this week:

"Because they let them in. Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person? Because they came in on a plane along with thousands of other people that shouldn't be here, and you're just asking questions because you're a stupid person, and there's a law passed that it's almost impossible not to get them. And you can't get them out once they come in."

What's next:

But for Barron, the question now is the impact it will have on everyday people. 

"If there is really a flaw, I hope they investigate. I hope they find it. But at the same time, we can't allow this to be used as an excuse to bar all immigrants, or just middle-eastern immigrants, or all Afghani nationals," Barron said.

Saying more needs to be done to protect those who have done no wrong

"There has to be checks and control, a balance, to do proper vetting, to allow only good individuals to enter the United States. But at the same time, we can't stop the whole process," said Barron.

Afghan national facing murder charge for DC shooting.

Dig deeper:

Alokozay's arrest came one day prior to a shooting in Washington DC that killed one West Virginia National Guard member and critically injured another.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, is accused of ambushing and shooting U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe just blocks from the White House Wednesday afternoon. Beckstrom would later die from her injuries, President Donald Trump announced Thursday.

It is unclear if the TikTok video and the Washington DC shooting are connected.

Lakanwal was admitted to the U.S. under the same program that admitted Alokozay.

Lakanwal, an Afghan national, has been in the U.S. since 2021, after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. On Thursday, Trump blamed the Biden administration for Lakanwal's presence in the U.S., saying that he wasn't properly vetted, though the Department of Justice's Inspector General in June found that there was sufficient vetting.

Fox News has also reported that Lakanwal's asylum application was approved under the Trump administration.

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