Exclusive flights halted for Afghans granted special US visas, advocates and Reuters officials say
By Jonathan Landay
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s foreign aid freeze has forced the suspension of flights for more than 40,000 Afghans granted special U.S. visas who are at risk of Taliban retaliation, a leading advocate and U.S. official said on Saturday.
The suspension was prompted by Trump’s order to halt foreign development aid for 90 days pending a review of effectiveness and consistency with his “America First” foreign policy.
Experts and advocacy groups say the foreign aid freeze has thrown U.S. and international aid operations into chaos and halted nutrition, health, vaccination and other programs.
The order also triggered a State Department freeze on funding for groups that help Afghans with Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) find housing, schools and jobs in the US
During his victorious 2024 re-election campaign, Trump promised to crack down on immigration.
Shawn VanDiver, head of #AfghanEvac, a major coalition of veterans and advocacy groups working with the U.S. government to evacuate and resettle those carrying SIVs, said he does not believe the flight suspension was intentional.
“We think it was a mistake,” VanDiver said.
He said he hoped the administration would grant exceptions to the order for Afghans who were granted an SIV because they worked for the U.S. government during the 20-year war that ended with the final withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in August 2021.
“They fought alongside us. They bled alongside us,” said VanDiver, who noted that tens of thousands of other Afghans are waiting for SIV applications to be processed.
The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reports from the UN mission in Afghanistan say the Taliban have detained, tortured and killed former soldiers and officials of the previous US-backed government. The Taliban have issued a general amnesty for former soldiers and government officials and deny the charges.
The flight suspension stranded more than 40,000 Afghans, including SIV holders, who were waiting to board a flight to the U.S. from visa processing centers in Qatar and Albania, said VanDiver and a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
That number also includes Afghans approved for SIVs who were waiting in Afghanistan and Pakistan to be put on U.S.-funded flights to processing centers in Doha and Tirana to get their visas, they said.
Nearly 200,000 Afghans have been resettled in the US on SIVs or as refugees since the chaotic US withdrawal in 2021.
In a separate executive order signed hours after his inauguration on Monday, Trump suspended all US refugee resettlement programs.
That order resulted in hundreds of Afghan refugees losing their seats on flights, including family members of active-duty Afghan US military personnel, former Afghan soldiers and unaccompanied children.
