WASHINGTON — AfghanEvac, an advocacy group for Afghan refugees, sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s newly signed executive order banning nationals from 12 countries — including Afghanistan — from entering the United States, calling the move a political maneuver that exploits public tragedy rather than a legitimate security measure.
In a strongly worded statement released Thursday, AfghanEvac described the order as “political theater”, not national security policy. “Let’s call it what it is: a second Muslim Ban, dressed up in bureaucracy,” the group said. “It was delayed until a moment of public grief and fear could be exploited for maximum political cover. That’s not leadership. It’s opportunism.”
President Trump announced the order on Wednesday, days after an Egyptian national allegedly carried out a violent attack in Boulder, Colorado. The proclamation bars nationals of 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen, and Somalia, from entering the U.S., while placing partial restrictions on seven others. The order takes effect on June 9.
Although the White House framed the policy as a response to national security risks, AfghanEvac said the administration had prepared the order weeks earlier and used the Boulder attack to justify its rollout. “This is not security,” the group said. “This is cowardice.”
AfghanEvac, a U.S.-based coalition of veterans, advocates, and former officials working to resettle Afghans, condemned the inclusion of Afghanistan in the ban as a “moral disgrace.” “It spits in the face of our allies, our veterans, and every value we claim to uphold,” the statement said.
The group noted that since the U.S. withdrawal in 2021, nearly 200,000 Afghans have been relocated to the United States through vetting-heavy pathways, including Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), humanitarian parole, and family reunification programs. Many are interpreters, journalists, women’s rights advocates, and aid workers.
“They have already cleared multi-layered background checks, medical screenings, and interviews,” the statement said. “They are known. They are trusted.”
While the executive order includes an exemption for current SIV holders, AfghanEvac said that was “cold comfort” to the tens of thousands still in process, the families stuck in limbo, and the organizations that have worked to fulfill U.S. promises.
The group warned that the policy will abandon wartime allies mid-process, cutting them off from safety, undermine U.S. credibility in future international coalitions, and punish civilians based on nationality and religion, not conduct or character
AfghanEvac called on members of Congress, veterans, national security officials, and faith leaders to speak out against the order and act to reverse it.
“We will not stand for it,” the group stated. “And we will fight it.”