Afghans in US mark withdrawal anniversary amid Trump immigration crackdown

Four years person passed since Hanifa Girowal fled Afghanistan connected a US evacuation flight. But each August, her caput returns to the aforesaid place.

Like galore Afghans evacuated amid the August 15 Taliban takeover of Kabul, Girowal, who worked successful quality rights nether the erstwhile Afghan government, inactive remains stuck successful “legal limbo” successful the United States. She is steadfastly pursuing a much unchangeable presumption successful the US, adjacent arsenic the governmental scenery surrounding her, and thousands of different Afghans successful similar situations, shifts.

“I someway consciousness similar I’m inactive stuck successful August 2021 and each the different Augusts successful between, I can’t retrieve thing astir them,” Girowal told Al Jazeera.

She often recalls the huffy dash amid a crush of bodies astatine the crowded Kabul International Airport: radical changeable successful beforehand of her, a week of hiding, a formation to Qatar, past Germany and past finally, the US authorities of Virginia.

Followed by the aboriginal days of trying to statesman a caller beingness from the fragments of the old.

“Everything conscionable comes up again to the surface, and it’s similar reliving that trauma we went through, and we person been trying to heal from since that day,” she said.

The conflict whitethorn person go familiar, but her disquiet has been heightened since US President Donald Trump took bureau connected January 20. His hardline migration policies person touched astir each migrant assemblage successful the US, underscoring vulnerabilities for anyone connected a precarious ineligible status.

There is simply a feeling that thing could happen, from 1 time to the next.

“I person an approved asylum case, which gives a definite level of protection, but we inactive don’t cognize the aboriginal of definite policies connected immigration,” Girowal said. “I americium precise overmuch fearful that I tin beryllium subjected to deportation astatine immoderate time.”

Unheeded warnings

Four years aft the US withdrawal, overmuch remains unclear astir however Trump’s policies volition impact Afghans who are already successful the US, estimated to full astir 180,000.

They arrived done a tangle of antithetic avenues, including 75,000 flown successful connected evacuation flights successful the contiguous aftermath of the withdrawal, arsenic the medication of US President Joe Biden undertook what it dubbed “Operation Allies Welcome“. Thousands much person since sought asylum by making treacherous journeys crossed the satellite to traverse the US confederate border.

Some person relocated via alleged Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), reserved for individuals who worked straight with the US subject successful Afghanistan, nether a notoriously backlogged programme.

Others person been resettled done a peculiar State Department programme, known arsenic Priority 1 (P1) and Priority 2 (P2), launched by the medication of President Biden, meant for Afghans who look persecution for having worked successful assorted capacities connected behalf of the US authorities oregon with a US-based organisation successful Afghanistan.

Adam Bates, a supervisory argumentation counsel astatine the International Refugee Assistance Programme, explained that immoderate of those pathways, astir notably the SIV and exile programmes, supply a wide people towards US residency and, eventually, citizenship.

But, helium clarified, others bash not – a information that advocates person warned leaves members of the colonisation taxable to perpetual uncertainty and governmental whims.

“A batch of the advocacy to the Biden medication officials was astir uncovering much imperishable ineligible pathways for Afghans,” Bates told Al Jazeera. “That was with 1 oculus towards the imaginable of giving the Trump medication this accidental to truly treble down and people this community.”

Pressure connected Afghans successful the US

During Trump’s caller term, his medication has taken respective factual – and astatine times contradictory – moves that impact Afghans surviving successful the US.

It ended “temporary protected status” (TPS) for Afghans already successful the state astatine the clip of the Taliban takeover, arguing the state shows “an improved information situation” and “stabilising economy”, a assertion contradicted by respective quality rights reports.

At the aforesaid time, the Trump medication added Afghanistan to a caller travel ban list, restricting visas for Afghans, saying specified admissions broadly tally antagonistic to US “foreign policy, nationalist security, and counterterrorism”.

These actions underscore that “the concern successful Afghanistan seems to beryllium immoderate it needs to be, from the Trump administration’s perspective,” according to Bates.

Trump has offered his contradictory messaging, criticising the Biden medication connected the run way for its handling of the withdrawal, and arsenic precocious arsenic July, pledging to “save” evacuated Afghans taxable to deportation from the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, the medication terminated a peculiar presumption for those who entered the US via the CBP One app successful April, perchance affecting thousands of Afghans who entered via the confederate border.

Advocates pass that galore much Afghans whitethorn soon beryllium facing different ineligible cliff. After being evacuated successful 2021, tens of thousands of Afghans were granted humanitarian parole, a impermanent presumption that allowed them to legally unrecorded and enactment successful the US for 2 years, with an hold granted successful 2023. That programme is soon acceptable to end.

While galore granted the presumption person since sought different ineligible avenues, astir often applying for asylum oregon SIVs, an chartless fig could beryllium rendered undocumented and taxable to deportation erstwhile the hold ends. Legislation creating a clearer pathway to citizenship has languished successful Congress for years.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has not publically released however galore evacuated Afghans stay successful the US connected humanitarian parole, and did not respond to Al Jazeera’s petition for the data.

Evacuated Afghans’ unease has been compounded by Trump’s assertive attack to migration enforcement, which has progressively seen those without transgression histories targeted for deportations and imperishable residents targeted for their political advocacy.

“It’s conscionable an escalation crossed the committee and a compounding of fearfulness and instability successful this community,” Bates said. “It’s hard to marque beingness decisions if you aren’t definite what’s going to hap time oregon adjacent week oregon successful a year”.

‘Pulled the rug out’

Meanwhile, for the thousands of Afghans continuing to question information successful the US from abroad, pathways person been severely constricted oregon person go wholly blocked.

The Trump medication has paused asylum claims astatine the US confederate border, citing a nationalist emergency. It has astir wholly suspended the US Refugee Program (USRAP), allowing lone a trickle of caller refugees successful amid an ongoing ineligible situation by rights groups.

Advocates accidental the peculiar P1 and P2 programme created for Afghan refugees appears to person been wholly halted nether Trump. The medication has not published exile admittance numbers since taking office, and did not reply to Al Jazeera’s petition for data.

“It feels arsenic if we person pulled the rug retired from galore of our Afghan allies done these argumentation changes that portion ineligible extortion for galore Afghans successful the US and bounds pathways for Afghans who are inactive overseas to travel to the US safely,” Kristyn Peck, the main enforcement serviceman of the Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area, told Al Jazeera.

She noted that the SIV pipeline has continued to run nether Trump, though determination person been immoderate limitations, including requiring those approved for relocation to wage for their ain travel.

Meanwhile, resettlement agencies similar Lutheran person been forced to earnestly curtail their operations pursuing a stop-work bid from the medication connected January 24. As of March, Peck said, the organisation has been forced to fto spell of astir 120 of its staff.

Susan Antolin, the enforcement manager of Women for Afghan Women, a non-profit organisation that offers intelligence health, ineligible and societal enactment to Afghans successful the US, said organisations similar hers are besides bracing for sustained uncertainty.

“We are diversifying our backing and trying precise hard, arsenic truthful galore different organisations are, to find different avenues to bring successful that backing to proceed to enactment our programmes,” she told Al Jazeera. “As organisations that woody with this benignant of work, we person to measurement up. We person to bash 10 times more, oregon 100 times more, of the work.”

‘No much a precedence for the world’

The unstable concern successful the US reflects a broader planetary trend.

The Taliban government, contempt promising reforms successful a propulsion for planetary recognition, has continued to beryllium accused of wide quality rights abuses and revenge killings. Still, it has upgraded diplomatic ties with respective governments successful caller years, and successful July, Russia became the archetypal state to formally recognise the radical arsenic the morganatic authorities of Afghanistan.

At the aforesaid time, the governments of Pakistan and Iran person accelerated expulsions of Afghans backmost to Afghanistan, with much than 1.4 cardinal Afghans either being expelled oregon leaving Iran unsocial from January to July of 2025, according to UNHCR.

The Reuters quality bureau besides reported successful July that the UAE had notified Washington that it had begun returning evacuated Afghans.

Germany, too, has begun deporting Afghans backmost to Afghanistan, successful July, it conducted its 2nd deportation formation since the Taliban came to power, contempt continuing not to recognise oregon support diplomatic ties with the group.

The corporate moves nonstop a wide message, evacuee Girowal said: “We cognize that Afghanistan is nary much a precedence for the world.”

Still, she said she has not abandoned anticipation that the US nether Trump’s enactment volition “not hide its allies”.

“I cognize the resilience of our ain Afghan community. We are trained to beryllium resilient wherever we are and combat backmost arsenic overmuch arsenic we can,” she said.

“That’s 1 happening that gives maine hope.”