As the Trump administration announces its travel ban, many Afghans' hopes are shattered

ISLAMABAD — When news of the Trump administration's travel ban came down including word that Afghanistan was on the list, Negina Khalili's phone lit up with questions from her family still in Afghanistan and Qatar: What would it mean for them? Were their hopes of someday finding safety in America swiftly slipping away?

Under the travel ban announced Wednesday night, the Trump administration has largely barred Afghans hoping to resettle in the U.S. permanently as well as those hoping to come to the U.S. temporarily for things like university study. There are exceptions — most importantly for the special immigrant visa holders who closely supported the U.S.'s two-decade long war in Afghanistan — but the travel ban comes as other forms of support for Afghans who allied with the U.S. are being steadily eroded under the Trump administration.

''It seems like all the doors are closing,'' said Khalili, a former prosecutor in Afghanistan who fled to America during the chaotic 2021 withdrawal.

Many in her family have been trying to come to the U.S. via the refugee program. Her sister, who was a journalist in Afghanistan during the U.S. occupation, is still in Afghanistan with her family and cannot work. Khalili also has family — her father, brother and stepmother — at a U.S. base in Qatar who were part of the way through the refugee admission process when Trump suspended the refugee program on Jan. 20 and they got stuck in Qatar.

News that Afghanistan was included in the travel ban was another blow to the family.

''Last night they sent me the news and said, ‘This is hopeless,''' Khalili said. When she talked to her brother in Qatar he told her: ''I prefer to die here and not go back to Afghanistan.'"

There are exceptions — and confusion

Another exception, which applies to all the countries on the travel ban, allows spouses, children or parents of U.S. citizens to enter the U.S. And the U.S. government can decide to admit people on a case-by-case basis if it serves a ''United States national interest.''

But beyond these exceptions, Afghans hoping to come to the U.S. are shut out. The language in the travel ban on the refugee program is unclear, said Naomi Steinberg, vice president of U.S. Policy & Advocacy at HIAS, one of the refugee resettlement agencies in the United States. But she noted that the refugee program is already suspended due to a separate executive order Trump signed immediately after his Jan. 20 inauguration.

The travel ban also comes at a time when the Trump administration has already taken steps chipping away at Afghan relocation efforts. The State Department office set up under the Biden administration to coordinate Afghan relocation efforts is being disbanded; the refugee program is suspended; and while Special Immigrant Visa holders can still come to the U.S., State Department funding cuts means there's no longer any money to fly them to the U.S. or help them resettle in the U.S.

Then came the travel ban, sending ripples of fear across the community.

In Qatar, Saliha, told The Associated Press on Thursday that she and her family were preparing for the Eid holiday when Trump announced that Afghans would be among those targeted in his new sweeping executive order.

''We were so hopeful that we'd hear some good news about a way for us to finally come to the U.S. but the news from Trump has only made us more depressed and confused,'' said Saliha, who asked to use only her first name out of concern for her safety if she and her family were to return to Afghanistan.

Back in her country, Saliha was a lawyer and part of a generation of women who grew up after the U.S. invasion. She and her family arrived in the Qatar camp in January to be processed as refugees and were hopeful they'd soon be in America. The refugee program suspension left her and hundreds of other families on the base in limbo.

Saliha remains hopeful of finding an exemption for her family. But, she said, ''it is really hard to be so far from your home country, awaiting a potential new life and then hearing bad news every other day.''

No One Left Behind, which has advocated for the Special Immigrant Visa program for Afghans, said it was grateful for the exemption for that group but expressed dismay that there were many others who ''served shoulder-to-shoulder'' with the U.S. that would be left behind because they didn't qualify for the SIV program.

''This includes those who were injured in the line of duty and were unable to complete a full year of service, the women and men of the Afghan National Army who trained and served with U.S. Special Forces, and many more. They stood by us in war, but now face danger because of their service with no clear way out. We must keep our promise to them as well,'' the organization wrote in a statement Thursday.

Afghans feel persecuted by Pakistan and abandoned by the US

For decades, Pakistan has hosted a large number of Afghans who have fled conflicts in their homeland. Many of them were reeling after news of the travel ban started to spread.

''This is heartbreaking and sad news,'' said one Afghan, who said he worked closely with U.S. agencies before the Taliban returned to power in 2021. He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the issue, fearing Taliban reprisals and potential arrest by Pakistani authorities.

He said he has been unable to obtain a special immigrant visa despite working for the U.S. Embassy for three years on public-awareness campaigns promoting education. He said his life would be at risk if he returned to Afghanistan, and that he did not know why his application was unsuccessful. He worried the travel ban could encourage the Pakistani government to begin deporting Afghans who are hoping for resettlement in the U.S.

''President Trump has shattered hopes,'' he said. ''America has the right to shape its immigration policy, but it should not abandon those who stood with it, risked their life, and who were promised a good future."

Another Afghan, Khalid Khan, said the new restrictions could expose him and thousands of others to arrest in Pakistan. He said police had previously left him and his family alone at the request of the U.S. Embassy. ''I worked for the U.S. military for eight years, and I feel abandoned. Every month, Trump is making a new rule,'' Khan said. He fled to Pakistan three years ago.

''Returning to Afghanistan will jeopardize my daughter's education," he said. ''The Taliban have banned girls from attending school beyond sixth grade. My daughter will remain uneducated if we return.''

The Taliban swept into Afghanistan's capital in August 2021 after the Western-backed government collapsed. Tens of thousands of Afghans thronged the airport, hoping for a flight out of the country on the U.S. military airlift.

Pakistan previously said it was working with host countries to resettle Afghans. Nobody was available to comment on Trump's latest executive order. There was no immediate comment on the travel ban from the Taliban-run government, which has been hoping for closer ties with the U.S.

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Santana reported from Washington and Amiri from New York.