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An order of the President’s first day donald trump pauses plans for Afghan allies who have been approved for US resettlement, a delay that advocates say could be the difference between life and death at the hands of the Taliban.
A pause in refugee resettlement in the US will include Afghans in hiding after the Taliban takeover and family members of US troops.
“There are lawyers, doctors and journalists stuck in Pakistan who have been waiting for three and a half years to move to the U.S. We finally got the program moving and got the U.S. government to agree to allow them to move “, Shawn VanDriver. , president of the resettlement group AfghanEvac, told Fox News Digital.
“Now, they’re panicking.”
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The executive order, entitled “Realignment of the United States’ refugee admissions programwill take effect Monday and will immediately pause resettlement for those who have worked their way through a system to get approval to move to the U.S.
It will continue “until the new entry of refugees into the United States aligns with the interests of the United States.”
A report will be sent to Trump every 90 days until he determines that refugees should be allowed in.
“That’s where they’re going wrong,” VanDriver said, concerned the pause will be “indefinite.”
Trump administration order pauses plans for Afghan allies who have been approved for US resettlement (Copyright MoD Crown via Getty Images)
“It could be any day that the Taliban or ISIS-K shows up at your door,” he said. “Can you imagine being an American service member who came to work yesterday thinking your mother is going to get out of Kabul and then they say ‘no’?”
Family members of about 200 U.S. service members will be affected immediately, according to VanDriver.
Some of these service members worked as combat interpreters for the US during the war in Afghanistan, only to move and join the service in USA
“The United States does not have the capacity to absorb large numbers of migrants, and particularly refugees, into its communities in a way that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans, that protects their security and that it guarantees the proper assimilation of the refugees,” says the order.
Since the end of the war in 2021, about 180,000 Afghans have resettled in the US
“How can the US government leave me behind in Afghanistan after it has approved thousands of airstrike packages against the Taliban?” an Afghan who was in the final stages of processing the case wrote in a text message shared with Fox News Digital.
“Members of Trump’s cabinet are veterans of the US military and fully understand how someone in my situation must be feeling right now,” the Afghan wrote. “This was the only hope for me and my family.”
Before the executive order, AfghanEvac sent a letter to Trump’s team and other lawmakers urging them to continue resettling Afghan allies in the U.S. VanDriver said his letter has not received a response from the new team. White House
Trump campaigned against the chaos that ensued when the US military withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021. President Joe Biden pointed to Trump, who had agreed to a 2021 deadline with the Taliban, but Trump claimed the Taliban had not held up their end. of the agreement because he had not adhered to the agreement.
If the refugee program is halted for 90 days, it would affect about 2,000 people. If it is stopped permanently, it could affect 25 to 30,000 people, according to Van Driver.
Many of those who are waiting for approval to come to the US are in hiding in Pakistan They fear deportation to Afghanistan, where their lives are at risk before they get approval to come to the US
Advocates say the decision stems from a promise the US made to Afghans who helped US troops and non-governmental organizations when the US withdrew and the government collapsed before the Taliban.
The order drew mixed reactions from Republicans.
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“It doesn’t have to include the Afghans,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., a Navy SEAL veteran, told Fox News Digital. “I learned a long time ago that there are exemptions for everything. If you are a man, woman or child and you helped us in Afghanistan, I am alive because of our Afghan allies. They have earned the right to come here
“I think the move itself is right,” said Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, another former SEAL, adding that Afghan allies should be exempt from the order. “Those Afghan refugees fought alongside us. They have every right, in my opinion, to be able to navigate these difficult waters to be in our country.”
Hundreds of people gather near a US Air Force C-17 transport plane in an attempt to escape in August 2021. (AP)
The military parade marks the third year since the Taliban took power in August 2024 (AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai)
“When you got everybody out of Afghanistan, we were supposed to target the civilians who helped us,” said Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, a former Army ranger. “(Biden) flooded everyone who had any proximity to Afghanistan through this program.”
“There are people who were inside those C-17s (that evacuated Afghans in 2021) who shouldn’t have been there, who were locked up in jail the day before,” said Rep. Darrell Issa, R- of Calif.
“So we’re going to look carefully and review it. Are we going to stop it for five years and not keep our promise? No.”
The Trump administration “will abandon thousands of individuals who stood shoulder to shoulder with America’s service members and now, because of their loyal service and commitment to our shared values, remain at great risk in Afghanistan,” VanDriver said in a statement.
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“Even a temporary pause further endangers our allies, compromises our global standing with any current and future allies, and breaks the promises we made as a country,” says the AfghanEvac letter distributed to lawmakers.
