Tens of thousands of Afghans who helped the United States during its two-decade-long “war on terror” in their country could now be at risk, due to a new ban on letting them into the US. The ban could also affect potential US arrivals from a range of other nations.
According to unnamed sources reported by Reuters, by mid-March President Donald Trump is planning to announce a list of countries whose citizens will no longer be allowed to enter the US. Nations said to be on the list are Afghanistan and Pakistan, alongside others that have not yet been named.
Possible other candidates include Gaza, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, which were all mentioned in a Trump speech on his proposed border policy in October 2023 in the same breath as “anywhere else that threatens our security.” During Trump’s first term, after a series of legal challenges, he denied entry to citizens from seven Muslim countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen).
Freeze on admission and aid
Coinciding with his inauguration on 20 January 2025, Trump issued an executive order that escalated vetting processes for those seeking entry to the US and imposed a 90-day freeze on both refugee admission, as well as on the foreign aid that funds their rescue flights.
At the same time, he required cabinet members to put forward the names of countries whose “vetting and screening information is so deficient” that US entry for their citizens should be suspended or stopped altogether. Afghanistan and Pakistan have been named even though Afghans are “more highly vetted than any population,” the sources told reporters, adding: “And yet, here we are, shutting the door in their faces.”
Visa holders advised to leave immediately
The State Department is said to have asked for an exemption from the ban for holders of Special Immigrant Visas. That includes former war translators, guides and others who have become refugees and been cleared for US resettlement because they could suffer retaliation from the Taliban, to whom the US ceded power in Afghanistan in 2021. However it is not clear if any exemption will be granted. Reuters notes that the State Department office that coordinates Afghan relocation has been told to prepare for closure by April 2025.
The news could affect around 200,000 Afghans whose applications are awaiting a response or who already hold approved resettlement status. The latter have been advised by Shawn VanDiver, head of the #AfghanEvac Coalition to make their journey immediately. The others remain in limbo either in Afghanistan or have fled to dozens of other countries. There are approximately 20,000 of them in Pakistan.
