On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order suspending U.S. refugee programs for at least four months, resulting in the cancellation of flights for nearly 1,660 Afghan refugees who had been cleared to resettle in the United States.

This group consists of unaccompanied minors waiting to be reunited with their families, relatives of active-duty U.S. military troops, and others who could face Taliban retaliation because they were associated with the old U.S.-backed Afghan government.

The decision also leaves thousands of other Afghans approved for resettlement in limbo, as they have not yet been assigned flights from Afghanistan or neighboring Pakistan.

Concerned about the cancellations, Shawn VanDiver, leader of the #AfghanEvac coalition of advocacy organizations and U.S. veterans, said, “Afghans and advocates are panicking.”

The suspension of refugee programs fulfills a central promise of President Trump’s 2024 election campaign, which emphasized an immigration crackdown.

The White House and the State Department have not commented on the issue.
Advocacy groups and Democratic members of the House Foreign Relations Committee have criticized the decision, describing it as a shameful abandonment of U.S. allies.