WASHINGTON – Refugees who had been approved to travel to the United States before a deadline next week suspending America’s refugee resettlement program have had their travel plans canceled by the Trump administration.
Thousands of refugees who fled war and persecution and had gone through a sometimes yearslong process to start new lives in America are now stranded at various locations worldwide. That includes more than 1,600 Afghans who assisted America’s war effort, as well as relatives of active-duty U.S. military personnel.
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President Donald Trump paused the program this week as part of a series of executive orders cracking down on immigration. His move had left open the possibility that refugees who had been screened to come to the U.S. and had flights booked before the Jan. 27 deadline might be able to get in under the wire.
But in an email dated Tuesday and reviewed by The Associated Press, the U.S. agency overseeing refugee processing and arrivals told staff and stakeholders that “refugee arrivals to the United States have been suspended until further notice.”
There are a little more than 10,000 refugees from around the world who had already gone through the lengthy refugee admission process and had travel scheduled over the next few weeks, according to a document obtained by the AP. It was not immediately clear how many of those had been set to arrive by the upcoming deadline.
Among those are more than 1,600 Afghans cleared to come to the U.S. as part of the program that the Biden administration set up after the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
Many veterans of America’s longest war have tried for years to help Afghans they worked with, in addition to their families, find refuge in the U.S. Many were prepared for a suspension of the resettlement program but had hoped for special consideration for the Afghans.
“The Trump administration’s early pause of refugee flights is alarming, leaving thousands of Afghan allies in fear and uncertainty,
Trump administration cancels travel for refugees already cleared to resettle in the US
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