President Donald Trump’s administration has canceled flights for nearly 1,660 Afghans who had been cleared to resettle in the United States, including family members of active-duty U.S. military personnel, according to a U.S. official and a prominent refugee advocate, Reuters reported.
The group affected by the decision includes unaccompanied minors awaiting reunification with families in the U.S., as well as Afghans at risk of Taliban retribution for supporting the former U.S.-backed Afghan government, Reuters reported. Shawn VanDiver, head of the #AfghanEvac coalition of U.S. veterans and advocacy groups, confirmed the cancellations, as did a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“This is devastating for families and individuals who had already been approved for resettlement,” VanDiver told Reuters.
The decision leaves thousands of other Afghans, approved for refugee resettlement but not yet assigned flights from Afghanistan or neighboring Pakistan, in limbo, Reuters said.
The flight cancellations come in the wake of Trump’s executive order suspending U.S. refugee programs for at least four months, one of the administration’s first actions after Trump’s inauguration for a second term. The White House website stated that the pause was necessary because “communities were forced to house large and unsustainable populations of migrants, straining community safety and resources.”
Trump’s administration had made immigration restrictions a key promise of the 2024 campaign, casting uncertainty over the future of U.S. refugee programs. The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Reuters reported.
VanDiver warned of the dire consequences for Afghans who worked alongside U.S. forces or government contractors. “This means that unaccompanied children, Afghan partner forces who trained, fought, and sacrificed alongside our troops, and families of active-duty U.S. service members are going to be stuck,” he told Reuters.
VanDiver noted that his phone had been “ringing nonstop” with calls from panicked Afghans and advocates. “We warned the administration this would happen, but they went ahead with it anyway. We hope they reconsider,” he added.
Among those being removed from flight manifests are nearly 200 family members of Afghan-American active-duty service members and an unknown number of Afghans who fought for the former U.S.-backed Kabul government, according to Reuters. Some 200 unaccompanied children of Afghan refugees or Afghan parents are also affected, as are individuals who worked for U.S. contractors or U.S.-affiliated organizations.
Minority Democrats on the House Foreign Relations Committee condemned the decision in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “This is what abandonment looks like. Leaving vetted, verified Afghan allies at the mercy of the Taliban is shameful,” the statement read, according to Reuters.
Since the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, nearly 200,000 Afghans have been brought to the U.S. under the Biden administration, Reuters reported. Many of these individuals were evacuated in the immediate aftermath of the Taliban’s return to power.
For the thousands still awaiting resettlement, however, the latest decision by Trump’s administration has cast their futures into uncertainty, with advocacy groups fearing that many will now face retaliation from the Taliban.
