Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Refugees who were approved to travel to the United States before a January 27 deadline that suspended America’s resettlement program have had their travel plans canceled by the Trump administration.
Thousands of refugees are now stranded in various locations around the world.
The suspension was in an executive order signed by the president Donald Trump on monday. It left open the possibility that people who had gone through the long process of being approved as refugees and allowed to come to the US, and had booked flights before that deadline, might still be caught under the wire.
But in an email reviewed Wednesday by The Associated Press, the US agency that oversees the processing and arrival of refugees told staff and stakeholders that “arrivals of refugees to the United States have been suspended until further notice.”
Among those affected are the more than 1,600 Afghans who have been cleared to resettle in the U.S. as part of the program the Biden administration set up after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. That number includes those who, in addition to U.S. soldiers worked in the war and also as family members of active duty US military personnel.
The Afghans who fled after the Taliban took power called on Trump on Wednesday to release them from the order, some saying they risked their lives to support US troops.
An estimated 15,000 Afghans are waiting in Pakistan to be approved for resettlement in the US through an American government program. It was established to help Afghans at risk under the Taliban because of its work with the US government, media, aid agencies and rights groups, after US troops pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021, when the Taliban took power.
There was no immediate comment from Pakistan, where authorities urged the international community to decide the fate of the 1.45 million Afghan refugees, saying they cannot stay indefinitely.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
“Many of us risked our lives to support the US mission as interpreters, contractors, human rights defenders and allies,” an advocacy group called Afghan USRAP Refugees – named after the US refugee program – said in an open letter to Trump, members of Congress and human rights defenders.
“The Taliban considers us traitors, and returning to Afghanistan would expose us to arrest, torture or death,” the group said. “In Pakistan, the situation is increasingly untenable. Arbitrary arrests, deportations and insecurity are exacerbating our need.”
Trump’s order had given the agency until January 27 before it began halting all processing and travel for at least three months. Now, however, it seems that the timing is up in the order. It was not immediately clear what prompted the change.
Refugees are distinct from people who come directly to the US-Mexico border with the goal of eventually seeking asylum in the US.
They undergo extensive screening before coming to the US. Once in the US, they are usually linked to a resettlement agency that helps them adjust to life in America. That includes help in finding a job and getting their children enrolled in school.
Some Afghans have been traumatized by the suspension
An Afghan woman, Farzana Umeed, and a man, Sarfraz Ahmed, said in an interview on the outskirts of Islamabad that they are traumatized by the suspension of the program.
“I almost cried last night when we heard this news,” Umeed said. She said that it is difficult for her to live in Pakistan, and she also cannot travel to America. “To return to my homeland also means taking a big risk. What should I do,” she asked, urging Trump to reverse his decision.
Those in exile in Pakistan include Afghan journalists who were forced to flee the Taliban for their lives, and now face “extreme fear under the recurring threat of arbitrary arrest, police harassment and deportation to Afghanistan,” said Reporters Without Borders on Wednesday.
The media watchdog urged Pakistan to ensure the protection of journalists, who say their visas will only be extended for a month for a fee of $100.
According to the Afghan USRAP Refugees group, flights to the US for many Afghans were planned 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 hopes to leave Pakistan for the United States in March after completing all interviews and medical have undergone tests.
In addition to Pakistan, more than 3,200 Afghans remain in Albania. A NATO member, Albania initially agreed to house fleeing Afghans for one year before moving them for permanent settlement in the United States, promising to hold them longer if their visas are delayed.
–with files from Munir Ahmed of The Associated Press
& copy 2025 The Canadian Press
