The Trump administration canceled the travel plans of refugees who had been approved to travel to the United States ahead of the Jan. 27 deadline that suspended the U.S. refugee resettlement program.
Thousands of refugees are now stranded in various places around the world.
The suspension was contained in an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Monday. It left open the possibility that people who had gone through the lengthy process to be approved as refugees and allowed to come to the US, and who had flights booked before that deadline, could still slip through the cracks.
But in an email reviewed Wednesday by The Associated Press, the U.S. agency that oversees refugee processing and arrivals told staff and stakeholders that “refugee arrivals to the United States have been suspended until further notice.”
Among those affected are the more than 1,600 Afghans authorized to resettle in the United States as part of the program that the Biden administration established following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. That number includes those who worked alongside US soldiers during the war, as well as family members of US military personnel on active duty.
Afghans who fled after the Taliban seized power appealed to Trump on Wednesday to exempt them from the order, with some saying they risked their lives to support US troops.
An estimated 15,000 Afghans are waiting in Pakistan for approval to resettle in the United States through a US government program. It was created to help Afghans at risk under the Taliban regime due to its work with the US government, media, aid agencies and human rights groups, after US troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021. , when the Taliban took power.
There was no immediate comment from Pakistan, where authorities have urged the world community to decide the fate of the 1.45 million Afghan refugees, saying they cannot stay indefinitely.
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“Many of us risk our lives to support the US mission as interpreters, contractors, human rights defenders and allies,” said an advocacy group called Afghan USRAP Refugees (named after the US refugee program). in an open letter to Trump, members of Congress and human rights advocates.
“The Taliban consider us traitors and returning to Afghanistan would expose us to arrest, torture or death,” the group said. “In Pakistan, the situation is increasingly unsustainable. “Arbitrary arrests, deportations and insecurity aggravate our anguish.”
Trump's order had given the agency until Jan. 27 before beginning to halt all processing and travel for at least three months. Now, however, it seems that the time for order has come forward. It was not immediately clear what prompted the change.
Refugees are different from people who arrive directly at the US-Mexico border with the goal of eventually seeking asylum in the United States. Refugees must live outside the United States to be considered for resettlement and are typically referred to the State Department by the United Nations.
They undergo a thorough evaluation before coming to the U.S. Once in the U.S., they are usually assigned to a resettlement agency that helps them adjust to life in the United States. That includes help finding a job and enrolling their children in school.
Some Afghans are traumatized by the suspension
An Afghan woman, Farzana Umeed, and a man, Sarfraz Ahmed, said in an interview outside Islamabad that they are traumatized by the program's suspension.
“I practically cried last night when we heard this news,” Umeed said. He said he finds it difficult to live in Pakistan and cannot travel to the United States either. “Returning to my home country also means taking a huge risk. “What should I do?” he asked and urged Trump to reverse his decision.
Among those exiled in Pakistan are Afghan journalists who were forced to flee the Taliban for their lives and who now face “extreme anxiety under the recurring threat of arbitrary arrests, police harassment and deportation to Afghanistan,” Reporters Without Borders said. on Wednesday.
The media watchdog urged Pakistan to ensure protection for journalists, who say their visa is extended for only one month for a fee of $100.
According to the Afghan refugee group USRAP, flights to the United States for many Afghans were scheduled for January, February and March after they were interviewed by the International Organization for Migration and US embassy officials.
“We are seeking the reversal of the ban on the refugee program on humanitarian grounds,” said Ahmad Shah, a member of the group, who hoped to leave Pakistan for the United States in March after undergoing all interviews and medical tests.
In addition to Pakistan, more than 3,200 Afghans are in Albania. NATO member Albania first agreed to house fleeing Afghans for a year before they moved to the United States to settle permanently, and then pledged to hold them longer if their visas were delayed.
—with files from Munir Ahmed of The Associated Press
© 2025 The Canadian Press