By Jonathan LandayWASHINGTON (Reuters) – A group advocating for U.S. veterans, service members, and others is sounding the alarm to the Trump administration regarding the serious repercussions on U.S. security if tens of thousands of Afghans, many facing threats of retaliation from the Taliban, are not exempted from the president’s freeze on foreign aid and refugee programs. This freeze has left them stranded around the world. The potential consequences are significant, including a breakdown of trust that could jeopardize local support for U.S. troops in future conflicts, as stated in a letter sent on Saturday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio by Shawn VanDiver, head of #AfghanEvac, the primary coalition working on Afghan resettlement with the U.S. government. The letter emphasized that denying exemptions would send a message to adversaries like the Islamic State that the U.S. abandons its allies and put at risk the safety of family members of active-duty Afghan-American U.S. military personnel who are currently trapped in Afghanistan. There has been no immediate response from the State Department regarding this matter.
President Donald Trump’s initial directives upon assuming office included temporary suspensions of foreign aid and refugee programs pending 90-day reviews. Rubio granted waivers for what he deemed “life-saving humanitarian assistance,” but aid workers reported widespread confusion resulting from these waivers. “We are requesting relief in the form of exemptions,” the letter, reviewed by Reuters, stated, also sent to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who had served in Afghanistan during the 20-year U.S. war. The U.S. Department of State has not yet responded to requests for comments.
The Republican president implemented the refugee freeze as part of an immigration crackdown he deemed necessary due to high levels of unauthorized immigration, but he exempted white South Africans on Friday. The freeze on foreign aid has halted flights from Afghanistan for approximately 40,000 Afghans who had been approved as refugees or for Special Immigration Visas (SIVs). SIVs are granted to Afghans facing threats from the Taliban due to their work for the U.S. government during the war that concluded with the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops in August 2021.
Reports from the United Nations indicate that the Taliban have detained, tortured, and even killed Afghans who had fought or worked for the former Western-backed government. The Taliban, however, dispute these allegations, pointing to a general amnesty extended to former government soldiers and officials. The flight halt has also left approximately 3,000 vetted Afghans, approved to travel to the United States, stranded in processing facilities in Qatar and Albania, according to VanDiver and a U.S. official who preferred to remain anonymous. Another 50,000 individuals are stuck in nearly 90 other countries – with about half of them in Pakistan – awaiting U.S. resettlement approval, or processing for
