Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/John McDonnell, File)

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said Sunday the Trump administration is "harassing" Afghan migrants through its crackdown on those from the country.

"Going after a large group of people, most of which I think are just trying to live their lives, raise their families, go to work every day, the U.S. government harassing them years later does not make a lot of sense to me," Kelly told host Dana Bash on CNN`s "State of the Union."

The Trump administration indefinitely paused immigration from Afghanistan on Wednesday, hours after two West Virginia National Guard members were shot in Washington, D.C. The suspected gunman, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is an Afghan national who entered the country in 2021 via a program for those who helped the U.S. during its two-decade war in Afghanistan.

As of September 2022, roughly 88,500 Afghan nationals entered the U.S. via the "Operation Allies Welcome" initiative, according to the Department of Homeland Security. In total, 195,000 Afghan migrants were living in the U.S. as of 2022, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

One Guard member, U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from her wounds on Thursday. Another, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains hospitalized in critical condition.

President Trump said Wednesday evening that his administration will review the case of every Afghan migrant who entered the country during the Biden administration.

The next day, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow said his agency, at the direction of the president, will reexamine green cards held by individuals from 19 countries, including Afghanistan.

The State Department has also paused visas for Afghan nationals in the wake of the shooting.

Kelly said Sunday that while individuals entering the country "should be vetted," those who assisted the U.S. during the war "provided a valuable service to the United States of America and deserve an opportunity to resettle in our country."

"We`re a country of immigrants," the Arizona senator added.