Thousands of Afghans who helped the US lose access to critical resources following Trump directives
CNN —
Thousands of Afghans who worked directly for or on behalf of the US government in Afghanistan have been cut off from critical resources and face huge uncertainty over whether they'll be able to travel to the United States following moves by the Trump administration to halt foreign aid and bar federally funded help according to multiple sources.
Last week, the Trump administration halted refugee flights across the globe, froze almost all foreign assistance, and cut off assistance for newly arrived refugees in the United States.
These actions have had immediate repercussions for the thousands of Afghans who served alongside the US military.
For those who are now in limbo in third countries like Qatar, the freeze means they have lost access to services and even goods like diapers and toiletries that were funded by the US government, sources told CNN.
They added that the freeze on foreign assistance directly impacts the ability of Afghans who received special immigrant visas (SIVs) to travel to the US, including translators who worked for the US military, people who were on US bases or compounds, among others. While some can pay their own way to the United States, others rely on flights paid for by US assistance that is now frozen.
Others who worked alongside the US and qualified for other kinds of refugee visas have also been impacted by the administration's actions.
There are around 3,000 Afghans currently in Qatar and 500 in Albania who are awaiting onward travel to the US, according to Anna Lloyd of Task Force Argo, a volunteer group that works to relocate vulnerable Afghans.
'This freeze has hurt them significantly, not just for a pause in further relocation and resettlement to America, but a pause in providing them basic necessities there in Doha,' she told CNN.
The freeze on foreign assistance abruptly halted services – including mental health services, education for children, sewing or music classes, and even the distribution of things like diapers and toiletries – provided by organizations in these third-party countries.
'We are only able to provide life sustaining services – food and emergency medical,' a US official said. It's unclear at this point what constitutes emergency medical services.
For those still in Afghanistan, the impact of the freeze could mean placing them in immense danger of retaliation from the Taliban government.
Some Afghans expecting to leave 'sold everything'
Lloyd explained that Afghans who were told they were on future flights have likely 'sold everything' and left their homes to await their flights.
'And now the flights have stopped and they have to return to what? Where do they return? If they return to their village, they'll be identified as somebody who did not make it out on a US flight,' she said.
The risk to Afghan allies who remained in the country is one that now-national security adviser Mike Waltz used to stress when he was serving as a lawmaker. In 2022, Waltz said the Biden administration 'abandoned' Afghan allies and called for officials to be held accountable for the 'thousands of allies we abandoned and made unkept promises of security for their safety.'
Meanwhile, organizations have scrambled to deal with the impact of the aid suspension, and a separate memo placing an indefinite halt on providing services for refugees already in the United States.
'We have these immigrants here legally, who no longer have those services, they're stuck in hotels. They came here with a backpack on their back, not with a shipment of household goods. They didn't come here with a large bank account. They came here because of the honorable and faithful service they gave to America,' Lloyd told CNN.
Several organizations including Task Force Argo and #AfghanEvac, a coalition of organizations that has been working to bring Afghan allies to safety since the end of the war in Afghanistan in 2021, have urged the administration to exempt Afghans allies from the freeze in services.
Within the administration, conversations are also ongoing about what, if anything, can be done to carve out those Afghans who helped the US abroad, according to two sources. It's unclear if the impact to SIV recipients was an unintended consequence of the cable, the US official told CNN.
'If it's not on purpose, it shouldn't be outside the realm of possibility to do a waiver,' the official said. 'If they refuse to do a waiver, then whether it was unintended or not, it's now on purpose.'
An expected 40,000 SIV recipients are expected to be impacted, according to #AfghanEvac.
The impact to SIV recipients is in addition to the already-impacted group of refugees around the world who have had flights cancelled after the Trump administration suspended the refugee admissions program.
While SIV recipients must prove they worked directly for the US government, many who assisted the US are not eligible for SIVs and instead come to the US through the refugee track. That group of impacted individuals includes the families of roughly 200 US service members.
To be eligible for a SIV, according to the State Department, an individual must prove that they were employed in Afghanistan for or on behalf of the US government for at least a year and provided 'faithful and valuable services,' which is documented in a letter of recommendation. Many Afghans who worked for the US military, for example, submit letters of recommendation by US military commanders for whom they worked attesting to their service.
Under the Biden administration, more than 180,000 Afghans were resettled following the collapse of the Afghan government to the Taliban and the withdrawal of the US, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in December.
'We still have a lot more to do,' Blinken said at the time. 'A lot more to do for Afghans in our country, a lot more to do for those who are still on the way.'
Trump administration officials have previously said they support Afghan allies who helped the US during its two decades in Afghanistan.
Asked about Afghan allies on Monday morning during his arrival to the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters, 'We stand by our allies.'
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