WASHINGTON — Refugees who had been approved to travel to the United States before a Jan. 27 deadline suspending America’s refugee resettlement program have had their travel plans canceled by the Trump administration.
Thousands of refugees are now stranded at various locations around the globe.
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The suspension was in an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Monday. It left open the possibility that people who had undergone the lengthy process to be approved as refugees and permitted to come to the U.S., and had flights booked before that deadline, might still be able to get in under the wire.
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But in an email reviewed Wednesday by The Associated Press, the U.S. agency overseeing refugee processing and arrival told staff and stakeholders that “refugee arrival to the United States have been suspended until further notice.”
Among those affected are the more than 1,600 Afghans cleared to resettle in the U.S. as part of the program that the Biden administration set up after the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. That number includes those who worked alongside American soldiers during the war as well as family members of active-duty U.S. military personnel.
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Trump’s order had given the agency until Jan. 27 before it began to halt all processing and traveling. Now, however, it appears the timing in the order was moved up. It was not immediately clear what prompted the change.
Refugees are distinct from people who come directly to the U.S.-Mexico border with the goal of eventually seeking asylum in the U.S. Refugees must be living outside of the U.S. to be considered for resettlement and are usually referred to the State Department by the United Nations.
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They undergo extensive screening before coming to the U.S. Once in the U.S., they are usually paired with a resettlement agency that helps them adjust to life in America. That includes help finding a job and getting their children enrolled in school.
Afghans who fled Taliban
Afghans who fled after the Taliban seized power appealed Wednesday to Trump to exempt them from an order suspending the relocation of refugees to the United States, some saying they risked their lives to support U.S. troops.
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An estimated 15,000 Afghans are waiting in Pakistan to be approved for resettlement in the U.S. via an American government program. It was set up to help Afghans at risk under the Taliban because of their work with the U.S. government, media, aid agencies and rights groups, after U.S. troops pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021, when the Taliban took power.
But in his first days in office, Trump’s administration announced the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program would be suspended from Jan. 27 for at least three months. During that period, the White House said the secretary of homeland security in consultation with the secretary of state will submit a report to the president on whether the resumption of the program is in the U.S. interest.
Refugees who had been approved to travel to the United States before Jan. 27 have had their travel plans canceled by the Trump administration. Among those affected are the more than 1,600 Afghans cleared to resettle in the U.S. That number includes those who worked alongside American soldiers during the war as well as family members of active-duty U.S. military personnel.
There was no immediate comment from Pakistan, where authorities have urged the international community to decide the fate of 1.45 million Afghan refugees, saying they cannot stay indefinitely.
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“Many of us risked our lives to support the U.S. mission as interpreters, contractors, human rights defenders, and allies,” an advocacy group called Afghan USRAP Refugees — named after the U.S. refugee program — said in an open letter to Trump, members of Congress and human rights defenders.
“The Taliban regard us as traitors, and returning to Afghanistan would expose us to arrest, torture, or death,” the group said. “In Pakistan, the situation is increasingly untenable. Arbitrary arrests, deportations, and insecurity compound our distress.”
Program’s suspension leaves exiles in limbo
Another Afghan woman, Farzana Umeed, and a man, Sarfraz Ahmed, said in an interview on the outskirts of Islamabad they were traumatized by the suspension of the program.
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“I virtually wept last night when we heard this news,” Umeed said. She said it was difficult for her to live in Pakistan, and she could not travel to America either. “Returning to my home country also means taking a huge risk. What should I do?” she asked, and urged Trump to reverse his decision.
Those in exile in Pakistan include Afghan journalists who were forced to escape Taliban rule to save their lives, and now face “extreme anxiety under the recurring threat of arbitrary arrest, police harassment and deportation to Afghanistan,” Reporters Without Borders said Wednesday.
The media watchdog urged Pakistan to ensure the protection of these journalists, who say their visa is extended only for a month for a $100 fee.
According to the Afghan USRAP Refugees group, flights to the U.S. for many Afghans had been scheduled for January, February and March after they were interviewed by the International Organization for Migration and U.S. Embassy officials.
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“We seek the reversal of the ban on the refugee program on humanitarian grounds,” said Ahmad Shah, a member of the group, who was hoping to leave Pakistan for the United States in March after undergoing all interviews and medical tests.
In addition to Pakistan, more than 3,200 Afghans are staying in Albania. A NATO member, Albania first agreed to house Afghans for one year before they moved for final settlement in the United States, then pledged to keep them longer if their visas were delayed.
By FARNOUSH AMIRI, REBECCA SANTANA and MUNIR AHMED with The Associated Press
Trump administration cancels travel for refugees already cleared to resettle in the US
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