On the fifth anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Global Refuge warns that the Afghan allies America pledged to protect are being shut out — as the visa pipeline stalls, protections end and resettlement freezes.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug 14, 2026
Contact: Timothy Young | timothy[dot]young at globalrefuge[dot]org
WASHINGTON – During the United States’ longest military engagement, the country made a simple but sacred promise to the Afghan allies who had served alongside American troops, diplomats and aid workers: we would not leave them behind. Five years after that mission came to an end, that promise is being systematically undone.
“For two decades, Afghans risked everything believing America would stand by those who stood with us. Instead, over the past year and a half, the federal government has dismantled virtually every legal pathway and protection for the allies of America’s longest war,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, a national nonprofit that has resettled roughly 25,000 Afghans since 2021. “For the administration to turn its back on these courageous Afghans is not just a betrayal of their faith in our word, but a betrayal of who we claim to be as a country.”
The reversal has been measurable and devastating for Afghan allies stranded abroad. Refugee resettlement of at-risk Afghans has been frozen indefinitely. Under the Trump administration’s travel ban, visa issuance and entry for Afghan nationals is now suspended, including under the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program built specifically for wartime allies. Nearly 6,000 of these authorized visas sit unused, while more than 15,000 vetted allies who have received Chief of Mission (COM) approval remain stranded, unable to travel. Those waiting in neighboring countries are increasingly vulnerable, with Iran and Pakistan having returned more than 2.8 million Afghans last year, according to the U.N. refugee agency.
“The fix is neither complicated nor partisan,” Vignarajah continued. “Our government can resume processing the Special Immigrant Visas these allies have already earned, and it can restore the travel ban exemption that allows Afghan partners to reach safety. These are people America vetted and promised to protect. We are simply asking our country to finish what it started.”
Afghans who have reached safety in the U.S. have also been impacted by sweeping policy changes. Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghanistan has been terminated, stripping deportation protection and work authorization from approximately 12,000 people. Some Afghans who served alongside American forces have been detained at routine immigration appointments; others have been seized in their own neighborhoods, including Mohammad Nazeer Paktyawal, a father of six who died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody within a day of his arrest. Many more are safe themselves, but remain separated from spouses, children, and parents still in harm’s way, living with daily fear for their loved ones, with no way to bring them home and no timeline for reunion.
“Every Afghan family we’ve walked alongside carries a hope any parent would recognize: to raise their children in safety and to one day hold their loved ones again,” added Vignarajah. “Right now, too many are being asked to surrender hope, to accept separation with no end in sight, to live in fear in the very country that promised them refuge. It does not and should not have to be this way. Whether we honor that hope, or turn away from it, is the true measure of our decency as a nation.”
The Afghans that Global Refuge has resettled are now neighbors, co-workers and classmates in communities across the country — families putting down roots, relatives reunited, women and girls pursuing opportunities denied to them under the Taliban regime, and former combat interpreters rebuilding the lives they were promised. They have met each new obstacle with remarkable resilience, enriching their communities and contributing to this country, even as the ground keeps shifting beneath them. In recognition of their courage and sacrifice, Global Refuge remains committed to serving Afghan newcomers and pressing for the restoration of the legal pathways that brought them to safety.
Global Refuge urges Americans who wish to stand with Afghan allies to learn more and take action.
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