Exclusive – Trump administration canceled flights for nearly 1,660 Afghan refugees, U.S. officials, advocates say

Jonathan Randy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Nearly 1,660 Afghans approved by the U.S. government to resettle in the United States, including family members of active-duty U.S. service members, are having their flights canceled under President Donald Trump’s order suspending the U.S. refugee program, a spokesman said. U.S. officials and a leading refugee resettlement advocate said Monday.

Shawn VanDiver, director of the #AfghanEvac coalition of U.S. veterans and advocacy groups, said the group includes unaccompanied minors waiting to be reunited with their families in the U.S. Afghans who fought against the former Afghan government and faced the risk of Taliban reprisals.

They said the U.S. decision also leaves thousands of other Afghans in limbo who have been approved for resettlement in the U.S. as refugees but have not yet been assigned flights from Afghanistan or neighboring Pakistan.

Trump has made cracking down on immigration a key promise of victory in 2024, while the fate of the U.S. refugee program hangs in the balance.

The White House and State Department, which oversee the U.S. refugee program, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“Afghans and advocates are panicking,” Vandiver said. “I’ve charged my phone four times today because so many people called me.

“We warned them that this was going to happen, but they did it anyway. We wanted them to reconsider,” he said of contacts with the Trump transition team.

VanDiver’s group is the main coalition that has been working with the U.S. government to evacuate and resettle Afghans in the United States since the Taliban took over Kabul, with the last U.S. troops leaving Afghanistan in August 2021.

Former President Joe Biden’s administration has brought nearly 200,000 Afghans to the United States since the U.S. withdrew troops from Kabul.

One of the dozens of executive orders Trump will sign after being sworn in on Monday is to suspend the U.S. refugee program for at least four months, an incoming Trump administration official said on condition of anonymity.

“We know this means unaccompanied children, (Afghan) partner troops who have trained, fought with, died or been wounded with our troops, and the families of active-duty U.S. service members will be in dire straits,” Vandiver said.

VanDiver and U.S. officials said Afghans have been allowed to resettle as U.S. refugees will be removed from flights out of Kabul between now and April.

They said they include nearly 200 family members of Afghan-American service members who were born in the U.S. or Afghans who came to the U.S., joined the military and became naturalized.

Vandiver said those removed from the flight also included an unknown number of Afghans fighting for the former U.S.-backed government in Kabul, as well as about 200 unaccompanied children of Afghan refugees or children who were left alone during the U.S. withdrawal. Afghan parents brought to the United States.

There are also an unknown number of Afghans in the group who qualify for refugee status because they work for U.S. contractors or U.S.-affiliated organizations, they said.

(Reporting by Jonathan Landy; Editing by Don Duffy and David Gregorio)