Afghan Americans fearful after Trump order halts refugee program

An executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump to suspend refugee admissions has heightened the concerns of an Afghan American soldier who has long worried about the fate of his sister in Kabul.

The soldier fears his sister could be forced to marry a Taliban fighter or targeted in a kidnapping-for-ransom scheme before she and her husband can leave Afghanistan and resettle in the U.S.

"I’m thinking about this all day. I can’t even do my job properly because this is mentally impacting me," the soldier, a member of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division, told Reuters on Tuesday. He spoke on the condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Nearly 200 family members of active-duty U.S. military personnel approved for refugee resettlement will be pulled off flights between now and April under Trump’s order, signed Monday, according to Shawn Vandiver, head of the #AfghanEvac coalition of veterans and advocacy groups, and a U.S. official familiar with the issue.

FILE: A day after U.S. forces completed their troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, an Afghan boy waves from a bus taking refugees to a processing center upon their arrival at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, U.S., September 1, 2021.Reuters

This group is part of nearly 1,560 Afghan refugees who will be removed from flight manifests, according to VanDiver and the official.

They include unaccompanied children and Afghans at risk of Taliban retaliation for working with the U.S.-backed government that fled following the U.S. withdrawal in August 2021.

The U.N. mission in Afghanistan reports that the Taliban has killed, tortured, and arbitrarily detained former officials and soldiers.

In an October report, it noted at least 24 cases of arbitrary arrest and detention, 10 of torture, and five former soldiers killed between July and September.

The Taliban has instituted a general amnesty for former government officials and soldiers but denies accusations of retaliation.

A spokesman for the Taliban-backed government did not immediately respond to questions about the safety of those awaiting relocation.

A U.N. report in May raised concerns that, while the Taliban has banned forced marriages, fighters have continued the practice without facing legal consequences.

Trump’s crackdown on immigration was a central promise during his 2024 campaign, leaving U.S. refugee programs in uncertainty.

His executive order, signed just hours after his inauguration for a second term, suspends refugee admissions until programs "align with the interests of the United States," citing concerns about the country’s ability to absorb large numbers of migrants without compromising resources for Americans.

"It's not good news. Not for my family, my wife, or all the Afghans who helped us with the mission. They put their lives in danger, and now they’ll be left behind, with their destiny uncertain," said Fazel Roufi, an Afghan American and former 82nd Airborne Division soldier.

Roufi, a former Afghan army officer who arrived in the U.S. on a student visa, became a citizen and joined the U.S. Army. He assisted during the chaotic Kabul airport evacuation as an adviser and translator. He helped rescue Americans, U.S. embassy staff, and others.

His wife, recently flown to Doha for visa processing, now waits in limbo at a U.S. military base. "If my wife goes back, they’ll just execute her and her family," said Roufi, who retired from the U.S. Army in 2022.

The active-duty 82nd Airborne soldier shares similar fears. His sister and her husband have received threats of kidnapping from those who believe they are wealthy because the rest of the family evacuated to the U.S. in 2021.

“She has no other family in Afghanistan besides her husband,” he said.

Trump’s order has intensified fears that other resettlement programs, including those for Afghans and Iraqis who worked with the U.S. government, may be halted, said Kim Staffieri, executive director of the Association of Wartime Allies, a group that helps Afghans and Iraqis resettle in the U.S.

"They’re all terrified. The level of anxiety we’re hearing feels like the lead-up to August 2021," she said, referencing the panic that led thousands of Afghans to storm Kabul airport hoping to board evacuation flights.

Another Afghan American, who served as a translator for U.S. troops and later joined the Texas National Guard after obtaining his green card, said his family—including his parents, two sisters, his brother, and his brother’s family—had been scheduled to fly to the U.S. in the coming month. He had already secured housing for them in Dallas.

“I cannot express how I feel,” said the Afghan American, who requested anonymity for his family's safety. “I haven’t eaten or slept since yesterday.”