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Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
After Trump halted funding for Afghans who helped the US, this group stepped in to help
WASHINGTON (AP) — When Andrew Sullivan thinks of the people his organization has helped resettle in America, one particular story comes to mind: an Afghan man in a wheelchair who was shot through the neck by a member of the Taliban for helping the U.S. during its war in Afghanistan. 'I just think ... Could I live with myself if we send that guy back to Afghanistan?' said Andrew Sullivan, executive director of No One Left Behind. 'And I thankfully don't have to because he made it to northern Virginia.' The charitable organization of U.S. military veterans, Afghans who once fled their country and volunteers in the U.S. is stepping in to help Afghans like that man in the wheelchair who are at risk of being stranded overseas. Their efforts come after the Trump administration took steps to hinder Afghans who helped America's war effort in trying to resettle in the U.S. No One Left Behind helps Afghans and Iraqis who qualify for the special immigrant visa program, which was set up by Congress in 2009 to help people who are in danger because of their efforts to aid the U.S. during the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. President Donald Trump in January suspended programs that buy flights for those refugees and cut off aid to the groups that help them resettle in the U.S. Hundreds who were approved for travel to the U.S. had visas but few ways to get here. If they managed to buy a flight, they had little help when they arrived. The White House and State Department did not respond to requests for comment. Meanwhile, the situation for Afghans has become more tenuous in some of the places where many have temporarily settled. Pakistan, having hosted millions of refugees, has in recent years removed Afghans from its country. increased deportations. An agreement that made Albania a waystation for Afghans expires in March, Sullivan said. Hovering over all of this is the fear that the Trump administration may announce a travel ban that could cut off all access from Afghanistan. In an executive order signed on Inauguration Day, Trump told key Cabinet members to submit a report within 60 days that identifies countries with vetting so poor that it would 'warrant a partial or full suspension' of travelers from those countries to the U.S. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Monday that the review was ongoing and no list had been finalized. But groups that work with Afghans are worried. When funding was suspended, No One Left Behind stepped in. Their goal is to make sure Afghans with State Department visas don't get stuck overseas. Other organizations — many who got their start helping Afghans during the U.S. military's chaotic withdrawal from Kabul in 2021 — are doing the same. To qualify for this visa, Afghans must prove they worked for the U.S. for at least one year. That means tracking down documentation from former supervisors, who were often affiliated with companies no longer in business. They also undergo extensive vetting and medical checks. 'Our view was, OK, we've got to act immediately to try and help these people,' said Sullivan. 'We've been in kind of an all-out sprint.' The organization has raised money to buy flights and help Afghans when they land. Between February 1 and March 17, the group said it successfully booked flights for 659 Afghans. It also launched a website where visa holders can share information, giving Sullivan's group a starting point to figure out where they might live in the U.S. Sullivan and the organization's 'ambassadors' — Afghans and Iraqis who already have emigrated to the U.S., many through the special immigrant visa program — have gone to Albania and Qatar to help stranded Afghans. Aqila is one of those ambassadors who went to Albania. The Associated Press is identifying Aqila by her first name because her family in Afghanistan is still at risk. Aqila said many of the families didn't know what would happen when they arrived in America. Would they be homeless? Abandoned? One man feared he'd end up alone in the airport parking lot because his contact in America — a long-haul trucker — couldn't come pick him up. She assured him that someone would be there. They gave them cards with contact information for attorneys. They printed papers with information about their rights in English, Dari, and Pashto. No One Left Behind reached out to family members and friends in the U.S. to help with the transition when they landed in America. Mohammad Saboor, a father of seven children, worked as an electrician and A/C technician with international and U.S. forces for 17 years. Two months ago, he and his family boarded a plane to Albania in anticipation of soon being able to go to America. They landed in California on March 12, exhausted but safe The next day he and his family explored their new apartment in the Sacramento suburb of Rancho Cordova. Saboor said he hasn't felt safe in Afghanistan since the Taliban took over the country in August 2021. He worried that he'd be killed as retribution for the nearly two decades he'd worked with the U.S. and its allies. He wondered what kind of future his children would have in a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The family picked the suburb in the hope that the large Afghan population in the Sacramento area would help them get settled and find work. He envisions a bright future in America, where his kids can go to school and eventually give back to the country that took his family in. Arriving in the U.S., he said, gave them a 'great feeling.' 'I believe that now we can live in a 100% peaceful environment,' he said. Sullivan said he hopes there will be exceptions for Afghans in the special immigrant visa program if a travel ban is imposed. They've been thoroughly vetted, he said, and earned the right to be here. 'These are folks that actually served shoulder-to-shoulder with American troops and diplomats for 20 years,' he said. Aqila, the Afghan ambassador, said it's stressful to hear stories of what people went through in Afghanistan. But the reward comes when she sees photos of those who have arrived in America. 'You can see the hope in their eyes,' she said. 'It's nice to be human. It's nice be kind to each other.'
Associated Press
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
After Trump halted funding for Afghans who helped the US, this group stepped in to help
WASHINGTON (AP) — When Andrew Sullivan thinks of the people his organization has helped resettle in America, one particular story comes to mind: an Afghan man in a wheelchair who was shot through the neck by a member of the Taliban for helping the U.S. during its war in Afghanistan. 'I just think ... Could I live with myself if we send that guy back to Afghanistan?' said Andrew Sullivan, executive director of No One Left Behind. 'And I thankfully don't have to because he made it to northern Virginia.' The charitable organization of U.S. military veterans, Afghans who once fled their country and volunteers in the U.S. is stepping in to help Afghans like that man in the wheelchair who are at risk of being stranded overseas. Their efforts come after the Trump administration took steps to hinder Afghans who helped America's war effort in trying to resettle in the U.S. No One Left Behind helps Afghans and Iraqis who qualify for the special immigrant visa program, which was set up by Congress in 2009 to help people who are in danger because of their efforts to aid the U.S. during the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. President Donald Trump in January suspended programs that buy flights for those refugees and cut off aid to the groups that help them resettle in the U.S. Hundreds who were approved for travel to the U.S. had visas but few ways to get here. If they managed to buy a flight, they had little help when they arrived. The White House and State Department did not respond to requests for comment. Meanwhile, the situation for Afghans has become more tenuous in some of the places where many have temporarily settled. Pakistan, having hosted millions of refugees, has in recent years removed Afghans from its country. increased deportations. An agreement that made Albania a waystation for Afghans expires in March, Sullivan said. Hovering over all of this is the fear that the Trump administration may announce a travel ban that could cut off all access from Afghanistan. In an executive order signed on Inauguration Day, Trump told key Cabinet members to submit a report within 60 days that identifies countries with vetting so poor that it would 'warrant a partial or full suspension' of travelers from those countries to the U.S. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Monday that the review was ongoing and no list had been finalized. But groups that work with Afghans are worried. When funding was suspended, No One Left Behind stepped in. Their goal is to make sure Afghans with State Department visas don't get stuck overseas. Other organizations — many who got their start helping Afghans during the U.S. military's chaotic withdrawal from Kabul in 2021 — are doing the same. To qualify for this visa, Afghans must prove they worked for the U.S. for at least one year. That means tracking down documentation from former supervisors, who were often affiliated with companies no longer in business. They also undergo extensive vetting and medical checks. 'Our view was, OK, we've got to act immediately to try and help these people,' said Sullivan. 'We've been in kind of an all-out sprint.' The organization has raised money to buy flights and help Afghans when they land. Between February 1 and March 17, the group said it successfully booked flights for 659 Afghans. It also launched a website where visa holders can share information, giving Sullivan's group a starting point to figure out where they might live in the U.S. Sullivan and the organization's 'ambassadors' — Afghans and Iraqis who already have emigrated to the U.S., many through the special immigrant visa program — have gone to Albania and Qatar to help stranded Afghans. Aqila is one of those ambassadors who went to Albania. The Associated Press is identifying Aqila by her first name because her family in Afghanistan is still at risk. Aqila said many of the families didn't know what would happen when they arrived in America. Would they be homeless? Abandoned? One man feared he'd end up alone in the airport parking lot because his contact in America — a long-haul trucker — couldn't come pick him up. She assured him that someone would be there. They gave them cards with contact information for attorneys. They printed papers with information about their rights in English, Dari, and Pashto. No One Left Behind reached out to family members and friends in the U.S. to help with the transition when they landed in America. Mohammad Saboor, a father of seven children, worked as an electrician and A/C technician with international and U.S. forces for 17 years. Two months ago, he and his family boarded a plane to Albania in anticipation of soon being able to go to America. They landed in California on March 12, exhausted but safe The next day he and his family explored their new apartment in the Sacramento suburb of Rancho Cordova. Saboor said he hasn't felt safe in Afghanistan since the Taliban took over the country in August 2021. He worried that he'd be killed as retribution for the nearly two decades he'd worked with the U.S. and its allies. He wondered what kind of future his children would have in a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The family picked the suburb in the hope that the large Afghan population in the Sacramento area would help them get settled and find work. He envisions a bright future in America, where his kids can go to school and eventually give back to the country that took his family in. Arriving in the U.S., he said, gave them a 'great feeling.' 'I believe that now we can live in a 100% peaceful environment,' he said. Sullivan said he hopes there will be exceptions for Afghans in the special immigrant visa program if a travel ban is imposed. They've been thoroughly vetted, he said, and earned the right to be here. 'These are folks that actually served shoulder-to-shoulder with American troops and diplomats for 20 years,' he said. Aqila, the Afghan ambassador, said it's stressful to hear stories of what people went through in Afghanistan. But the reward comes when she sees photos of those who have arrived in America. 'You can see the hope in their eyes,' she said. 'It's nice to be human. It's nice be kind to each other.'
USA Today
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Joan Baez stops by John Mulaney's live Netflix show to blast 'billionaires' running US
Joan Baez stops by John Mulaney's live Netflix show to blast 'billionaires' running US Show Caption Hide Caption Rock Hall 2017 class includes Pearl Jam, Tupac and Journey Seattle rockers Pearl Jam, the late rapper Tupac Shakur and 1970s hitmaking band Journey were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Joan Baez, Electric Light Orchestra and Yes were also part of the 2017 class inducted. USA TODAY Joan Baez, long an outspoken advocate for civil rights, isn't going to start holding her tongue now. In an appearance on John Mulaney's new Netflix talk show, the singer-songwriter took aim at the "incompetent billionaires" whom she accused of taking over the U.S. government. "You said I could say anything I want out here," Baez, 84, told Mulaney during the Wednesday night premiere of "Everybody's Live With John Mulaney." "We're all here to be silly and have fun, and as long as we recognize the fact that our democracy is going up in flames … we're being run by a bunch of really incompetent billionaires." John Mulaney opens up about life with infant son Malcolm during Hollywood Bowl show While Baez did not name drop, the world's richest man, Elon Musk, has taken an outsized role in President Donald Trump's administration. Musk, who was not elected to public office, has been designated a special employee by Trump and has begun to slash large swaths of the federal government through his Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE. Multiple tech billionaires, including Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon head Jeff Bezos, were present at Trump's inauguration, and Trump himself has been reported to have a net worth of $4.6 billion, according to Forbes. Baez, whose anthems helped to score the 1960s civil rights movement, has long combined her music career with activism. From the Vietnam and Iraq Wars to the struggle for LGBTQ rights, the songstress has signed her name to several anti-violent causes. Her role in the success of Bob Dylan, another folk hero, was recently dramatized in the Oscar-nominated biopic "A Complete Unknown." Baez's character was played by Monica Barbaro. "At first, he was that protest voice also, and then he didn't want to do that anymore," Barbaro told USA TODAY of Baez's insights on Dylan. "She was also in love with his potential." Baez's seeming distaste for Musk resurfaced later in the show when she shared an anecdote about crashing a Tesla car shortly after purchasing it. Sheryl Crow waves goodbye to towed Tesla car after slamming 'President Musk': See video Tesla, one of Musk's many business ventures, has taken a hit in sales in recent months, as his ties to Trump scare off some buyers. As a remedy, the president hosted a quasi-car show in front of the White House this week and agreed to buy one of the models. "I hated that thing,' Baez said of the Tesla her assistant had encouraged her to buy. "But I thought I was supposed to like it. So I drove off in it. Within 45 minutes I had smashed it into an oak tree on my property. … I was thinking, 'That's a sign.'" Mulaney's show, a new venture for Netflix, sees the wildly popular comedian host other comics and actors for live interviews every Wednesday. Baez was joined by Michael Keaton and Fred Armisen as the inaugural guests.
